


Clubbin'

by Kaiju62



Category: RWBY
Genre: Comedy, F/F, F/M, Humor, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-06-10 17:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 117,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6966148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiju62/pseuds/Kaiju62
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yang and Nora go out to Junior's club together expecting a night of fun. Nora makes a move Yang doesn't see coming and leads them both down a path they'll never forget.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Clubbin'

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The airbus swayed slightly to one side as it came in to land. Yang could hear the engine’s roaring hard as they slowed their descent, bringing the ship to a gentle touchdown. The door popped and hissed as it opened and revealed a small staircase allowing the passengers to disembark. While Yang normally would just make her way out of the ship with everyone else, filing out in the slow procession that was people going about their business, today she was pulled along by her hand. She laughed and let herself be drug through the crowd, it wasn’t that different from when Ruby was too excited to get to a bakery or some weapons show. But, this wasn’t her sister, this was a bubbly little redhead named Nora.

“C’mon Yang! Hurry up.” Yang laughed as she pulled her through the throng of people trying to get off. Most people made way for them and those who didn’t, Nora not so subtly pushed to the side.

“Excuse us, sorry, kind of in a hurry. Sorry. ‘Scuse us.” Yang apologized as she was drug along. They emerged into the sunlight and Nora threw both her arms up into the air.

“Ahh we’re finally out of there.” the redhead spun a happy little circle before grabbing Yang by both hands again and spinning her along with her. They both came to a stop, giggling and catching their breath, “Okay partner, where are we headed?”

“Well I usually go to Junior’s place. I don’t know a lot of other bars in town and he and I have an understanding now so I keep coming back.” Yang glanced around the streets that stretched out from the airbus landing pad, more than a little disoriented from their twirl. Others were making their way out of the ship now, more than a few casting a derisive glance at the pair who had been so eager to force their way out of the ship just to then stand on the landing pad. Yang found the sign she was looking for and pointed, “Yeah it’s just down that way, maybe a little further than we wanna walk though.”

“Oh come on, we can walk and cabs are sooooo expensive” Nora was bouncing on her heels in anticipation.

“You’re really excited to go out drinking Nora. I don’t mind, just..uhh why?” Yang put her hands on her hips and regarded the other girl curiously.

“Oh no reason. Just you know. Pyrrha doesn’t drink because her body is a temple and all that. So then Jaune doesn’t drink because if Pyrrha doesn’t drink then Jaune doesn’t either. And Ren, Ren is Ren.” Nora stopped bouncing and cocked her head to the side, “So are we going or what?”

“Yeah we’re going, but we are not walking. It’ll take way too long.” Nora started to protest but Yang held out a hand to stop her, “Don’t worry, we aren’t taking a cab either. Come on.” Yang waved her hand and walked towards the landing pad’s parking garage. Nora rolled her head to the other side but then shrugged and skipped off after Yang.

The wind whipped past them as Yang slid around a corner and kicked the bike forward, pulling hard on the accelerator to push out of the turn. Nora whooped in excitement, pumping one fist in the air and keeping her other arm firmly around Yang’s midsection. Yang grinned from under her sunglasses and pushed the bike faster, not everyone took to her driving style so well and it was nice to have someone along for the ride that appreciated what she and her bike were capable of. Yang pulled the brakes and skidded to a halt at the curb outside Junior’s club.

Yang let her left leg fall to the curb and steadied the bike before removing her helmet and sunglasses, shaking her blonde locks free. Nora kicked her feet out and thrust both hands up in the air.

“That was awesome!” Nora screamed, Yang swung her other leg off the bike and held it up with one hand, helping Nora off with the other. She turned to the bouncer, a large man with a dark mustache wearing sunglasses and a finely tailored black suit. The man shrank under her violet gaze and flinched when she thrust her hand forward, clutching a 20 Lien bill. 

“You will walk this to the lot. You will not start the engine. Understood.” Yang leveled an incredibly serious look at the man and Nora tucked her helmet in the bike’s storage area.

“Listen Miss. I am not a valet.” he squared his shoulders to Yang and crossed his thick, muscled arms. Yang let her face fall into an easy smile.

“Great! Thanks so much.” She tucked the bill in his jacket pocket, gave it a little pat and walked right past the shocked man, Nora followed behind spinning to give the man a playful wink as he turned and watched them strut right past him and a rather large line, into the bar.

Junior's club was a chic, high class establishment meant for dancing and partying, lots of drinking and blowing off steam. It was also a convincing front for Junior’s underground syndicate of thieves, mercenaries, information brokers and smugglers. In Vale, Junior was the man to know if you wanted something done or needed to know what others were trying to keep secret. He was not a man to constantly flex his influence, he existed more in a passive state, confident that he was widely known and well respected. But, when Yang walked into the already crowded club, her red headed companion following eagerly behind, Junior felt a shiver run up his spine. He stood and signaled for several of his men to follow him. His two personal guards, Melanie and Militia noted his movement and sat up in their reclined chairs. Junior and his boys made their way across the floor unobtrusively, catching Yang and Nora just past the entrance.

“Miss Xiao Long, how nice of you to join us tonight.” He forced a false smile out under his dark sunglasses. His men were tense, they fingered their holsters and shifted in their shoes, “You're here to dance I hope.”

“Oh yeah Junior, we’re here to dance and drink and have a good time.” Yang gave him a huge smile and planted both hands on her hips, “By the way, this is my friend, Nora.” Yang put her hands out to the side, displaying Nora like a prize on a gameshow. The other girl waved, emphatic and smiling. Yang turned her serious look back on Junior, “I expect her to get the same treatment as me.” 

“Oh of course, any friend of yours is welcome in my club. Enjoy yourselves ladies.” Junior waved his arm with far too much flourish and motioned them further into the club. Nora jumped at the chance and strode forward, Yang held back just slightly and whispered to Junior.

“I can't make any promises though, she's kind of a crazy one.” She broke into a fit of laughter and caught up with her friend, leaving a very worried and anxious Junior praying for his club’s well being. 

The music was loud, bass notes resonating against the glass dance floor, making the whole building rattle with the force of the music. Yang caught up to Nora and grabbed her around the shoulder, leaning in close so that she would be heard. 

“Let's grab a drink real quick before we hit the floor.” Nora nodded and Yang pulled her over towards the bar. The bar stools were all full so Yang and Nora squeezed their way in between two patrons who had their backs turned to each other and grabbed the barkeeper’s attention.

“Oh Miss Xiao Long. What can I get you tonight? Strawberry sunrise?” The man grabbed a glass from under the counter and went to begin filling it.

“No, no. Actually tonight, ummm..” Yang put a finger to her chin and tapped methodically, thinking hard.

“Two Big Ursas please” Nora held out two fingers and the bartender smiled. 

“Coming right up” he turned to the counter behind him and prepped two shot glasses with an assortment of drinks that made a white and black mixture float foggily in the glass, before turning back to the pair and placing the glasses in front of them. 

“Wo-ho, alright then. Starting the night off big.” Yang smiled and lifted her glass to Nora. Nora grabbed hers and turned to face Yang. They were pressed close together by the other bodies at the bar so they were almost touching at the hips, leaning back so there was room for their arms and glasses in between them.

“Is there any other way?” they both smiled and clinked their small glasses together gently, being sure not to spill any of the precious drink. They both rocked their heads back and took the shots, then slammed the glasses upside down on the counter with a satisfied gasp.

“I wouldn’t expect any less from huntresses.” the bartender smiled and took their glasses back. Yang reached for her wallet and he held out a hand, “I could never charge a huntress for slaying an Ursa. You two go dance.” Yang and Nora’s faces both split into wide grins.

“You got it!” Nora grabbed Yang by the hand and pulled her away towards the dance floor. Yang pulled back just enough to thank the bartender and then she was gone, swallowed in the mass of bodies on the dance floor.

Nora and Yang took to dancing like starved prisoners to a banquet. They jumped to the middle of the dance floor and moved with wild abandon. They moved their hands and shook their hips, whipping their heads to the beat and letting go in a way neither of them could with their teams. The DJ wore a large cartoonish bear head and pumped one fist in the air as he flowed from track to track. Neon lights in tall glass pillars flashed in time with the music, the whole floor illuminated from beneath pulsed with the crowd. Eight or nine songs in, the DJ’s transitions were so smooth it was hard to tell sometimes, Yang looked to Nora and motioned with her head over towards the tables. Nora nodded her head and they worked their way out of the throng of people. They found an empty table and propped themselves up on the high stools, looking out over the floor. 

“Okay Yang, you were right. This is like the best club ever.” Nora was breathless with excitement, clenching the side of the table hard to contain herself. Yang threw her head back and laughed, shaking her hair out she reached back with one hand to pull some of it off her sweaty back.

“I told you. It’s the place to be.” She raised her hand and caught an employee’s attention, the man jumped with a slight start and ran off towards the bar.

“Dang Yang,” Nora giggled at her own rhyme, “You’ve got them running scared. What did you do?”

“Oh nothing. I just had some questions and they didn’t have the right answers.” Yang laughed and glanced around the building, “It really needed a remodel anyways, it looks much better now.” Nora burst out laughing, rocking in her chair as the man returned, carrying a sealed bottle in a small bucket of ice with two glasses. He set them on their table and waited for Yang to say something.

“That’s good for now. Just put it on my tab.” The man nodded his head at Yang’s response and walked away with a sigh of relief. Nora locked onto the bottle and her eyes went wide.

“Is that all for us?” Nora, slid one glass over to herself slowly.

“Yeah why the hell not. Like you said, we never get to go out like this. Blake is so quiet and Weiss has a stick way too far up her butt. Ruby would probably have fun but she’s still too young so here we are.” Yank cracked the bottle open and poured a small amount in each glass, then set the bottle down and lifted her glass to Nora. The redhead followed suit, “To us, the fun ones.”

“The hot ones!” Nora clinked her glass against Yangs and they both downed their drinks, “Oh my Oum that’s delicious.”

“Yeah, it’s from Vacuo. Junior’s is one of the only places in Vale that gets it in all the time. Another reason I always come here.” Yang refilled their glasses and they drank again.

The two girls sat at their table and talked happily about everything going on in their lives. The drinks helped loosen them up and got rid of a lot of the more formal barriers that existed between them because of their teams. They found they had a lot in common, from their rash, compulsive nature to their horrible sense of humor. Outside of the school setting, away from the stresses of life at Beacon and the pressure of becoming Huntresses their tensions eased. They made their way through most of the bottle and got to the point where even they were rather tipsy before they slowed their pace. Nora and Yang were both swaying a bit from side to side and the jokes had gotten even worse than usual before two men approached their table.

“Hey ladies, enjoying the club tonight?” the men came over and leaned against the table. One was tall, clean cut with slicked back black hair and stylish clothes. He put one elbow on the table and leaned down so his head was level with the seated girls. The other was a little big, with a thick neck and rounded arms. He had a rough shadow of beard running up his chin line and down over his neck. He crossed both arms on the table and leaned in, breathing heavily from what Yang hoped was the exertion of dancing.

“Oh yeah, it’s great.” Nora turned with her usual bubbly excitement to the two men. Yang sat up and tried to concentrate through the haze of drink in her mind, cautious.

“You two looked like you were having a good time. We thought maybe we’d come over, have a good time with you.” the thin man flashed a smile at Yang and the big man chuckled, shaking up and down.

“Oh no, we’re real boring. Just talking about school stuff really.” Nora waved a hand at him, laughing, and finished what was left in her glass. The skinnier of the two men who seemed to be the real talker of the pair slid up onto one of the stolls around their table, putting himself next to Yang. She tensed a little as the man put his arms on the table now much closer to her.

“You’re students? Should you really be out drinking? This is no place for high school girls.” he gave Yang a coy smile and lowered his eyelids a little, implying far more than he said.

“We’re actually attending Beacon. We’re Huntresses in training.” Yang was not comfortable with these men or anything they had in mind. The man leaned back and held up his hands in mock shock and defense. He looked to his friend.

“Wow, we better watch out.” he laughed and turned back to the girls, “I knew you looked strong, must be real firm under all those fancy clothes.” He slowly started to reach a hand towards Yang and she clenched her fist but Nora put an arm around her shoulder.

“Oh yeah, I make her keep in shape.” Nora laughed and pulled Yang over to lean into her. Yang relaxed a little as the man retracted his hand and folded it back into his grip, resting his clenched hands on the table.

“Really? You two are together? Beacon must be a fun place with girls like you around.” he looked to Nora now and the bigger man stood up, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Oh yeah, she’s the best.” Nora gave Yang a quick kiss on the cheek. Yang blushed a little but didn’t flinch away. She put her arm around Nora’s waist and pulled the redhead to her, causing a little yelp of joy. Nora grinned at her and playfully pushed at Yang’s shoulder, “Hey now, we’re still out in public.”

“So, you two planning on going back tonight or do you wanna come out with us?” The thinner man leaned in hungrily. Yang turned away from Nora to regard him cooly, the mix of adrenaline from the situation and confusion or excitement from whatever Nora was doing dulling the alcohol a little.

“Get a clue buddy. Buzz off.” Yang clenched her free hand into a fist under the table. The man started to move forward again, reaching his hand out towards Yang’s free arm. Yang let loose of Nora and slid off her stool to stand face to face with the man. He smiled, apparently thinking she was getting down to meet him and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked down at his hand and slowly back up to him, “You’re gonna wanna move that.”

“Oh yeah? Where would you like it?” The man’s smile was abruptly cut off by the sound of breaking glass and a thunk, audible over the music. Several people at nearby tables turned to look and a few of Junior’s men started over from their spots along the walls. Nora had smashed the remainder of the bottle on the bigger man’s head, he was rather close to Nora so Yang figured he had been trying what the thin man had been trying with her. Yang turned back and regarded the remaining man who was dumbfounded. She smirked and punched him square in the gut. He doubled over and coughed hard.

“Oh you little-” just then two of Junior’s men arrived behind him, one took the liberty of hitting him on the back of the head with his night stick, knocking him out cold on the floor.

“Miss Xiao Long. We’re very sorry. They won’t be allowed back in the club. And uh…” he looked about a little, “that bottle is on the house, obviously.” several others arrived and they drug the two men off. Those who had turned to watch the scene unfold returned to their drinks, confident that it had been handled. Yang gave them a nod of approval and turned back to Nora who was handing the broken bottle neck to another employee.

“Wow, I’m so sorry. That never happens here.” Yang rubbed the back of her head, beginning to apologize.

“Are you kidding? That was great!” Nora wrapped Yang in a tight hug and the blonde smiled grabbing her friend back, “We got to dance, we got to talk and drink for free and I got to smash someone’s head!”

“Yeah, I guess it wasn’t all bad was it.” they pulled out of the hug but Nora kept a hold of Yang’s hands.

“We made a pretty good couple too didn’t we?” she smiled at Yang and jabbed her in the ribs with her elbow.

“Yeah, what was that?” she looked at her friend curiously, “I mean, just...what?”

“Well you know, I thought it might get those creeps to stop bugging us, which it didn’t, but it was kinda fun too right? Like what if we were a couple, this would kinda be a date then wouldn’t it?” Nora rolled her head to one side and laughed at the idea.

“Yeah I guess it kinda would.” Yang blushed a little but told herself it was just the alcohol coming back since the situation died down and she was relaxing again, “Come on, let’s go dance some more.” and with that Yang drug Nora out onto the dance floor, walking in beat to the rhythm and hoping Nora hadn’t realized how red her face was.


	2. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after their night at the club and Yang is sorting through her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang grimaced as she hit the heavy bag and felt sand run out over her fingers. Someone needed to tell them to wrap the bags in something sturdier, these just weren’t doing it. Yang disconnected the bag and slung it over her shoulder, she carried it over to a stack she had in the corner and leaned it up with the rest. She tried to avoid spilling any sand on the floor but that was impossible. Yang grabbed a fresh bag from the opposite corner and slung it over the hook on the stand. How did they expect her to get a decent workout in if she had to constantly rehang the bags. She planted herself in front of the bag and sighed, the whole point of coming here had been to relieve stress not get all pent up over weak punching bags.

She stood up on her toes, flexing her calves and stretching the backs of her legs, then fell into an easy bouncing rhythm and raised her fists to the bag. The sensation of beating her fists into something helped calm her mind a little and let her think over things. Usually she preferred a moving target, a sparring partner, something that could hit back, but right now she had too much going on in her head to think and hold her own in a match at the same time. Her fists fell into the bag in rapid succession, replicating combos that would send most Grimm flying when she was wearing her gauntlets. She fell into a pattern and then started to let her mind drift again.

What had happened at Junior’s the other night was out of the ordinary for sure. Most men knew not to approach her at that club, not only was she an intimidating presence on her own, but she had a reputation at the club as the Yang Xiao Long who had floored every goon and thug in the place before dropping Junior, Malachite and Melanie; destroying half the club in the process and walking out as if it were just another Tuesday, which for Yang, it honestly was. So when those two men had approached she and Nora it had thrown her completely off guard, she was unprepared for them to be as aggressive as they were and even less prepared for the way Nora had responded. Not knocking one over the head with a bottle, that was expected, it was when she had pretended they were a couple to try and get the men to leave. 

Sure it was just a ploy, Yang knew they weren’t anything more than friends, hell they hadn’t even been that great of friends until that night at the bar. But Nora went for it so easily, so naturally and it hadn’t felt wrong to Yang at all. The way her lips had felt against her cheek, the sensation of leaning into her, feeling her strong arm wrapped around Yang’s shoulder. Yang wasn’t even gay and it had felt great. Whenever she went looking for a man, or a boy, she always looked for someone who could at least challenge her in terms of strength, there was no way she could ever be even slightly attracted to someone weaker than her. Jaune was cute and all, a total goofball but the boy could barely bench his own body weight. Ren was not only quiet and contemplative, traits that didn’t get along with Yang in the slightest but also all fast and lithe in a fight. Sun, Neptune, the other transfers who had arrived leading up the Vytal Festival...they were all pretty boys or self-obsessed. Some were strong, definitely capable in battle, but no one that jumped out to her. When Nora had put her arm around Yang’s shoulders she could feel the muscles there, squeezing hard even in such an innocent gesture. She had seen the girl in the gym, out lifting all but the strongest male students, Yatsuhashi could outlift her but the man was nearly eight feet tall and seemingly built of iron. Nora was obnoxious, loud, impulsive, strong willed and strong armed. But she was a girl, so there couldn’t be something there. Plus she was already with Ren, everyone knew that. Yang finished her latest string of hits with a solid right hook and felt sand dribble out over her knuckles. This was useless.

After cleaning up her bags, putting them near the maintenance office to be patched and then showering off in the lockers Yang headed for the dining halls, maybe getting some food in her would help her think straight. She opened the doors to the grand hall, gym bag slung over one shoulder and looked for an open table or a friendly face. She spotted Pyrrha sitting alone, quietly eating a serving that put most of Yang’s meals to shame. Yang smiled and headed her way, perhaps this redhead would have some insight on the other redhead, being teammates and all. Yang threw herself down on the bench across from Pyrrha and dropped her bag at her feet under the table.

“Oh hello Yang, good afternoon.” Pyrrha covered her mouth with a hand and politely greeted Yang as she sat.

“Hey Pyrrha,” Yang tried her best to maintain her usual chipper attitude, Pyrrha was a worrier and she just wanted to know more about Nora, not have Pyrrha start wondering what was wrong and trying to help and offering to get the rest of Team RWBY involved. Yang just had to ask a few questions, get a grip on the fiery little girl’s attitude. Yang tried to think of just what those questions were.

“Were you going to have lunch?” Pyrrha set down her fork and regarded Yang strangely, “I believe they’re still serving.” Yang glanced at the clock behind Pyrrha’s head, it was 12:35, of course they were still serving, they had barely started serving. Pyrrha was always so polite though, is that one of the things Jaune liked about her? That was it, a place to start.

“Pyrrha, how are you and Jaune doing?” Pyrrha immediately blushed and turned her head to the side, attempting to conceal her embarrassment behind a demur hand.

“What..umm whatever do you mean?” she stammered out and tried to focus her face back to a normal shade.

“Oh come on. Everyone knows team JNPR is just two couples sharing a room. So, how are you two?” Yang sat up and smiled, with Pyrrha feeling a little uncomfortable she was more at ease, the Mistralian girl was always so composed it put Yang off sometimes. But flustered and embarrassed, that was something she could work with.

“I don’t know what you mean. None of us are in a relationship with anyone else on our team.” Pyrrha cleared her throat and tightly gripped her fork, trying to steady her nerves, “It is true that I am.. well that I… Jaune and I are close. But, it has not developed into anything further than that.”

“Oh…? Really? I always figured that… Okay well, Ren and Nora are together aren’t they?” Yang felt bad for what she had brought up regarding Jaune, she thought that Pyrrha was so easily flustered because she was a conservative girl, not because she was harboring unrequited feelings for her team leader. Anyone with half their wits about could tell that Pyrrha was smitten with Jaune, which explained a lot about Jaune since he seemed utterly oblivious to the fact. Yang had been sure they were dating since the dance and that Jaune was just much subtler about his feelings than Pyrrha was.

“Well you see. How did she put it. They aren’t ‘together together.’ I believe that was her wording.” Pyrrha was somewhat recovered now that the topic had changed, “They seem to have a very platonic relationship.”

“A what?” Yang squinted one eye, trying to dredge the meaning of that word up from her inner scholar, it was hiding in there, somewhere deep under hours of combat training and violent video games.  Pyrrha chuckled slightly, not meanly, just amused.

“I’m sorry. They are like brother and sister. Very much devoted to one another but in no way romantically involved. At least as far as I have been able to tell.” Pyrrha sat for a moment as Yang digested that information, she waited a moment and when Yang said nothing, began to eat again, not wanting to let her meal sit overly long.

Yang thought over that in her head. She wasn't sure what Nora and Ren’s history was, she knew they had been together for a long time, that neither of them had much family and they leaned heavily on each other for support. The relationship was obviously mutual and she had never seen the two openly disagree or argue, they always seemed so happy together. Was it possible that they weren't involved? Why wouldn't they be? What could possibly be keeping them from each other when they seemed so absolutely perfectly paired? And then it hit Yang harder than she had been hitting the bags, what if Nora was gay?

Yang stood with a start and startled Pyrrha.

“Yang, are you alright?” Yang was pulled out of her thoughts by the girl’s gentle voice, filled with that motherly concern she had been trying to avoid, “If you want I can-”

“No, no I'm fine,” Yang cut her off, “I just remembered I have to meet up with my team at the gym. Sorry for bugging you,” Yang turned to run off in a hurry, “Enjoy your lunch” she called out behind her as she raced down the rows of tables. 

\---------------------------------------------------

Yang threw the ball in her hand back up at the ceiling and caught it as it descended towards her. She threw it up and caught it again. She had run out on Pyrrha and back to their rooms, part of her hoping to run into Nora, part of her dreading the possibility. When she didn’t meet up with the girl, she simply went in her room and began searching her thoughts again. So what if Nora was interested in girls, she wasn't right? She had never been interested in a girl before, why should that change now. Yes, she could admit Nora was cute, she could also admit that Weiss was beautiful, that scar acting as the perfect blemish to an otherwise flawless complexion, but she definitely wasn't interested in her. Yang threw the the ball in the air again.

“Hello Yang,” Blake had, as usual, entered the room without a noise and was standing next to Yang’s bunk. Or was she standing next to her bed and Yang just happened to be there? Either way her intrusion on Yang’s pensive state caused her to drop the ball right on her face, flail trying to catch it and slip out of her bed and fall the considerable distance to the floor. Blake swiftly stepped out of the way, avoiding Yang as she fell.

Blake laughed quietly, almost under her breath and extended a hand to help Yang up. Yang took the hand and shot Blake a look of askance.

“Oh nothing. Just proof you are related to Ruby.” Blake sat quietly on the edge of her bed beneath Yang’s and motioned for her to do the same. Yang sat slowly and started to ask what was going on but Blake cut her off, “So, what’s wrong?”

“Huh? Nothing’s wrong. I'm just bored.” Yang tried to grin Blake's question away but Blake shook her head in denial. She pointed over by the door, Yang followed her finger and found her gym bag lying there.

“You told Pyrrha you had to meet us at the gym,” realization hit Yang like a ton of bricks, “and then left your gym bag with her. She was only concerned you would have to workout without it so I offered to bring it to you.” Yang breathed a sigh of relief, glad to at least be somewhat free of Pyrrha’s smothering care, “She said you seemed distraught.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks.” Yang stood and went over to her bag to put its contents away, “I just wanted to get up from sitting with her and so I used a lame excuse.” 

“That's fine. But you still need to tell me what's on your mind.” Blake had not moved, she had her hands folded calmly in her lap.

“I told you there's nothing-” Blake calmly raised a hand, cutting her off again.

“You wouldn't have forgotten your gym bag if something else wasn’t on your mind.” Blake stood calmly and walked over to grab Yang gently by the shoulder, “You helped me once, let me help you.” She offered her partner one of her rare, small smiles. Yang sighed and dropped her bag at her feet.

“I’m just really confused,” Blake took her by the shoulder and led her back to the bed to sit, “It’s really not a big deal. It's just dumb.”

“C’mon Yang, if you don't get to it now then you’ll have to tell me in front of Weiss,” Blake paused to let that sink in, “and Ruby.” Yang turned and locked eyes with her partner, violet focused on amber.

“So, Nora and I went out the other night to Junior’s. It was a great time, we danced and talked and drank. Then these two guys tried to hit on us, they were rude about it and really pushy. We played cool though, we were having a good time and didn't wanna make a thing of it. They kept pushing though, so Nora acted like we were dating. She grabbed me around the shoulders, kissed me on the cheek and stuff. They didn't back off and Nora ended up hitting one guy with a bottle and I punched the other one out.”

“And what part of that is troubling you? Bar fights are not new to you.” Blake turned on the bed and crossed her legs.

“Yeah, that part was fine. Kinda fun actually. It’s the whole thing with Nora kissing me and stuff.” Yang fell back into the bed with a heavy sigh, flinging her arms out to her sides.

“Did it make you feel uncomfortable? I'm sure she didn't mean to upset you. She was just trying to-” 

“I liked it Blake!” she cut her off, “I liked it so much I blushed and lost my train of thought. She kissed my cheek and put her arm over my shoulder, I leaned into it. I didn't even think twice about it.” Blake sat quietly for a moment, making sure that Yang had said everything she wanted to say and giving herself a moment to process the information.

“Have you talked to her about it? How did the rest of the night go?” Blake’s face fell to deeper concern.

“The night was great. We danced more and talked a bunch. Nothing else happened though. We just rode the airbus back and came back here. I haven't talked to her yet because, what if it wasn't a big deal? What if she just wanted to get the guys to stop bothering us? What if she thinks it’s weird that I'm making such a big deal about it? I had a lot of fun with her Blake, I could really relax. That's new and I don't wanna lose that so quick by freaking her out.” Yang started waving her hands around emphatically and sat up, her eyes were wide with worry.

“Well, if it wasn't a big deal to her, then it shouldn't be a big deal if you bring it up.” Blake put her hand on Yang’s to comfort her, “You should really talk to her about it. That's the only way you'll get an answer.”

“I guess you're right.” Yang flipped her hand over and grabbed hold of Blake’s, “What do I do if it’s not though? What if it wasn't anything to her?”

“Well how do you feel Yang. It has you concerned obviously. But what did it mean to you?” Blake squeezed her hand comfortingly.

“I…” Yang paused and looked down at their hands, that felt normal, like holding hands with Ruby, her sister, Nora’s arm had not felt like that, “I don't know Blake. I have no idea what's going on in my head. Why do I feel this way about a girl?” Yang’s voice was wavering, on the edge between shouting and breaking. Blake pulled her forward into a hug, holding her about the shoulders, putting one hand on the back of her golden locks and pulling her head down to her shoulder.

“Yang, it's okay. So what if she’s a girl? She's really cute and strong too. Plus, she's a great person, perhaps a tad violent but so are you. I don't see a single problem there.” Yang flung her arms around her partner and held her tight. Blake rubbed the back of Yang’s head and just held her for a moment, waiting until she was ready to talk again. After a few minutes Yang pulled away and cleared her throat softly.

“Okay, I'm gonna talk to her then.” She steadied her face into an uneasy smile and Blake returned it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two of Clubbin'
> 
> I'm not at all against all the F/F fics out there. I just think it's interesting to explore the world of their sexual preferences in a way where the characters don't just all assume that everyone is up to being with anyone. I love all the F/F relationships that have sprung from RWBY, but for the sake of this fic I will still make one character or another being gay actually mean a great deal.
> 
> Hope you continue reading.
> 
> -Zach


	3. Just Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang runs into Nora and they grab lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

After Yang made her decision to speak with Nora about the other night, it seemed as if a large weight had been lifted from her shoulder. She had the ability to think clearly about things, and to think of things other than Nora. She knew this clear headed state might not last and so buckled down to get some school work done. There was a report due in Dr. Oobleck’s regarding the use of fire and other passive methods of destruction against Grimm nests and an essay in Professor Port’s class regarding the exploits of various Huntresses and the effects these expeditions had on the standing of Huntresses in the hunting community, their contribution to the rise in popularity of hunting among women as a profession and the acceptance of women by the previously male dominated occupation.

Their dorm was an incredibly quiet place to study when Ruby wasn’t around and when Yang was being quiet. She and Blake both kept to themselves for the rest of the evening, Blake quietly reading a book on her bed and Yang plowing through the research necessary for the two assignments. She would still catch herself occasionally though, hearing a door handle click or the sound of heavy footfalls padding down the hallway. She would cock her head towards the door and listen, again hoping and dreading that it may be Nora. She had made up her mind to speak with the other girl about what had happened but she wanted to do it on her own terms, and definitely wanted to have the conversation in some sort of privacy.

After an hour or two of work Yang was beginning to tire of schoolwork, having made significant headway she decided it might be time to head down for some food. She had skipped lunch after all. She pushed back from the desk slightly and stretched her arms above her head with an exaggerated yawn.

“Hey Blake, wanna head down for some food? I never ate earlier.” Yang twisted her chair about to glance at her partner.

“Hmm?” Blake took a moment to mark her place in her book and looked up, “Oh no thank you. I was actually getting lunch when I ran into Pyrrha. I’ve already eaten.” with that she returned to her novel.

“Okay, I’ll see you when I get back up then.” Yang swung her legs down and practically jumped to her feet. She really was feeling better now that she had made a decision. She turned to the mirror and corrected her shorts and blouse slightly, they had been pushed into odd positions while she studied. She ran a quick hand under her hair, ensuring it was all falling in the right places and headed out the door with a quick wave to her partner who was again deeply engrossed in her book.

She twisted through the door as she waved, backing into the hallway and spinning about as she closed the door. As she turned she was met with a sight which very much threw her off her current good mood. Nora was headed down the hallway, most likely also going to grab a bite to eat. Yang quickly considered darting back into her room, her hand still on the knob but hesitated, not wanting to run from a problem. Nora stopped and turned at the noise of Yang’s door closing.

“Yang, oh my Oum, where have you been?” the redheaded girl waved from her end of the hallway, only a couple yards away. Yang forced out a good natured laugh and smiled, she headed down the hallway to meet up with her.

“Oh you know me, at the gym mostly. I’ve been getting in some bag work.” Yang caught up with her and they matched pace going down the hallway.

“You should have told me. I’ve been wanting to spar with someone outside my team.” Nora delivered a playful jab to Yang’s shoulder as they reached the stairs, Yang turned to retaliate but Nora stuck out her tongue and jumped on the railing, sliding down the whole flight and far out Yang’s reach, “Catch me if you can, slowpoke.” Nora but her thumbs in her ears and waggled her fingers about, shaking her tongue at Yang. She then went sprinting out of the dorm building’s front doors. Yang looked after her for a second, feeling that warmth again that she was having such trouble explaining and then went tearing down the steps. 

She took the first six steps two at a time, then grew frustrated with that pace and leapt the rest of the way down in a single bound. She blew through the door and stopped outside to see where Nora had gone. She saw her hair bobbing away off towards the dining hall and went tearing after her. Yang pushed hard, doing her best to close the gap between the two, but found that without her gauntlets to speed her along the smaller girl was much faster than her. When Yang thought she was catching up, Nora glanced back, stuck her tongue out and just ran faster than Yang could and disappeared around the side of a building. Yang knew where she was headed though and so came barrelling into the dining hall. The doors slammed open as she skidded to a stop in the roughly half-full lunch area.

Yang scanned the crowds, trying to find a patch of bright red hair moving amongst the crowd. She finally found her amongst the other students waiting in line. Nora was holding two trays, bouncing slightly from side to side on her heels, as if listening to music. Yang jogged lightly over and tapped her on the shoulder. Nora turned quickly and gave a yang a cool stare.

“Oh. Now you decide to show up. You took so long I thought you had decided not to follow me. I was so hurt Yang.” Nora turned her head up and away with a huff. Yang was taken aback at first, but saw Nora open one eye slightly and a grin start to spread on her lips, “Hah! I got you didn’t I?” Nora started laughing and handed Yang one of the trays. Yang took the tray and laughed too, happy the tension had broken. Why was she so worried about what Nora thought of her?

“Where did that come from?” they stepped forward and Yang was hit with delicious smell of cooking meat, she hadn’t realized how hungry she was.

“Well,” Nora leaned in close to Yang and glanced around warily, “You can’t tell anyone, but I’ve been practicing my Weiss impression for a while. How did I do?” Yang lurched her head away, she realized that Nora had sounded just like her sister’s partner, not in tone of voice, but definitely in what she said.

“I’d say you’ve got it spot on.” they stepped forward again and Yang could see the food past Nora’s shoulder, “Oum I’m starving. I don’t think I’ve eaten all day.”

“Really?” Nora tsked and shook her head side to side, “Well that just won’t do.” She grabbed Yang by the shoulders with both hands, pinching the still empty tray between her arm and torso and spun Yang so she was in front, “There, now you are one person closer to food.” Yang mocked a deep bow.

“Oh thank you, you’ve saved me from starvation.” she looked up from her bow, grinning at her laughing friend. Just then the line slid forward again and gave Yang and Nora access to the food. Yang began piling plates of red meat and breads on her tray. She grabbed some bread and began eating it right there in line. Nora stacked a very similar meal on her plate and then added a small boxed salad. Yang saw the salad and quirked an eyebrow.

“Salad Nora? Really trying to maintain that girlish figure aren’t you?” Yang laughed and took another bite of the roll she had started as they waited for the line to slide forward again.

“Pfft no.” Nora waved a dismissive hand at Yang, “Ren told me I have to eat at least one vegetable thing with every meal or he will make me drink that terrible juice stuff he makes.”

“Ahh I see. Well then let me suffer with you,” Yang grabbed another of the salad boxes and crammed it into place alongside her other food. The line slid forward and Nora lit up, seeing the chef put down a fresh slab of meat, cut into thin slices. She and Yang hungrily took most of the new piece, leaving an exasperated cook trying to keep up with the voracious appetites most students at Beacon sported. The two girls flashed him uneasy smiles and he just shook his head, returning to the kitchen.

“At least we get steak too.” Nora set the tongs down and looked at her tray. There was a healthy amount of meat, nearly half the slices of steak, four large pork chops, a pile of cut and buttered bread, a mass of dinner rolls and her salad. Yang realized Nora had about as much food as she did and smiled, the girl could eat too. They looked about the cafeteria and found an empty section of benches. They made their way over and plopped down across the table from each other. Nora immediately began digging in and Yang followed suit. They tore at the food hungrily, only stopping really to cut the pork chops, everything else being manageable the way it was. For a while they just ate, not stopping to speak. Yang finally stopped as she finished a roll and swallowed to clear her throat.

“So Nora, what’s the deal with you and Ren?” Yang quickly took another piece of steak into her mouth, using it as an easy excuse to not have to explain her question. Nora didn’t hesitate in her answer though.

“Ren’s great. He’s been like an older brother ever since we met. Every part of it too, he’s fun and nice but also makes me eat things like this salad,” Nora poked the unopened plastic container with her fork and returned to stuffing herself with porkchop.

“So you’ve been together a long time?” Yang was running out of food now and wanted to get through the tough part of this now. Nora swallowed hard and looked off to the side to think for a moment.

“Yeah, it seems like we’ve known each other like forever. I can’t imagine not having him around. We’re like family.” Nora smiled and then looked down at her plate, her smile dropped a little as she saw how little was left. 

“So it’s like you’re already married?” Yang didn’t take another bite, this was the big question and she waited on edge for Nora’s response which didn’t take long. The girl’s head shot up and she locked eyes with a very nervous Yang.

“What?” a deep red blush filled her freckled cheeks, “Umm, no, no way. We’re not like together like that. I don’t - he doesn’t - we aren’t ‘together-together’,” she looked at the table in front of her and mumbled under her breath a little, “Why does everyone think that?” Yang smiled and immediately hid it under another bite of pork chops. If they weren’t together then there was still a chance at something else here. Yang would have to tread the next few steps very carefully.

“Oh I’m sorry,” she swallowed most of her food, trying to seem nonchalant about the whole deal, “I didn’t mean anything. I guess I just, well everyone just kinda figured you two were a couple.”

“That’s okay. Like you said, basically everyone thinks we are.” Nora lifted and dropped her shoulders with a heavy sigh, “Oh well, there’s only one thing left to do.” Yang’s face fell a little, worried that Nora felt the sudden need to dispel these rumors about her and Ren, she went to speak but caught herself when she heard a distinct plastic popping noise. She looked down and saw Nora had opened her salad. The redhead was staring forlornly down at the pile of green leaves and veggies. There were a few croutons and a smattering of thin slices of ham sprinkled throughout. Yang smiled, relieved and slid her salad over and opened it as well. Nora heard her box open and looked up, “You’re really gonna eat a salad with me? You don’t have to.”

“Nope, we’re in this together. Come one, gotta get to it or we never will.” Nora smiled as Yang plunged her fork into the crisp greens and began eating. She dove in as well, obviously not wanting to be outdone by the blonde across from her. In just a few moments the two had cleaned the little clear containers out, there wasn’t a lot to them to begin with. The salad had been fine, a varied assortment of crisp greens, a few cherry tomatoes, even croutons and ham to liven it up for those like Yang and Nora who weren’t the biggest fans of salad. Yang left her plastic fork in the box and pushed it away. Nora threw her arms up in the air with a giggle.

“Hurray we finished!” She then lowered her eyes on Yang and got very serious, “Now we can get ice cream.” Yang’s face split into a grin and she stood, Nora followed suit, jumping up onto her bench, she put one foot on the table and pointed heroically off into the distance, To ice cream!” The two girls then made their way, laughing, across the dining hall to a soft serve machine in the corner by the other desserts. Beacon’s cafeteria usually had a pretty decent spread of deserts, seasonal pies or little sweets, lots of baked goods which Ruby was absolutely in love with, but one thing that never changed was the soft serve machine. Just vanilla or chocolate and a nozzle in the middle that swirled the two together. You could get it in cones or bowls depending on your preference and there was a small collection of toppings off to the side. Nora darted in and grabbed two cones, handing one to Yang, “Alright Yang. This is a test.”

“Oh it’s a test? What kind of test is that?” Yang stepped forward and pulled the lever for chocolate, letting a neat swirl fall into the cone, spinning and twisting her wrist slowly so it fell in an even pile on top of her cone. Nora leaned over and held her head close to the machine, intently watching Yang’s process, flitting her eyes between the descending ice cream and Yang’s face. Yang stopped when the ice cream came to a point and looked to Nora, the girl’s face was unreadable, she stared intently at Yang, waiting. Yang slowly moved over to the toppings, which would Nora expect her to use? She saw sprinkles, chocolate chips, little bits of cookie dough; did Ruby know they had those here? She had no way of knowing what Nora expected of her and so she just went for what she would like and put a very small amount of sprinkles on top of her pile of ice cream, adding a dash of color to the otherwise brown tower. She turned and saw Nora still watching her, “Hey, I know I’m gorgeous and all but are you gonna get any or just stare at me all day?”

Nora failed to stifle a loud giggle and managed to gasp out just the word ‘gorgeous’ between bursts of laughter. She turned to the machine and started making her own ice cream much the same way Yang had but she was able to bring the pile of ice cream much higher, keeping her spiral tight and clean. Then she moved to the toppings, still laughing slightly, she shook her head a little and muttered again ‘gorgeous’ and then dumped an undeniably unhealthy amount of sprinkles on her ice cream. The surface now looked like a tie dye mess, barely any ice cream was visible under the shell of multicolored sprinkles. Then Nora reached down and grabbed a spoonful of cookie dough bits and dropped them in her mouth.

“You haf to lif a litle” Nora pushed the words out around a mouth full of unbaked cookies. Yang watched the entire scene unfold in amazement, the girl may have a bigger sweet tooth than her sister, and that was a feat, Yang wasn’t sure if it was something Nora should be proud of but it was impressive either way. They started to walk again, headed back towards their table when Yang had an idea that just might get her where she wanted to be.

“Nora, we got ‘em in cones and everything. Wanna go outside? It’s not that hot.” Yang motioned with her head towards the open doors and the mostly empty courtyard outside the cafeteria. Nora nodded and continued devouring her ice cream, she would have to maintain that pace if she had any intention of finishing it before it all melted. They walked outside and started down one of the many stone lined paths leading to and from the cafeteria. It had a central location on campus and so this path could lead anywhere but Yang didn’t particularly care where that was. The pair made their way through their ice cream quickly, it wasn’t that hot outside but it was plenty hot enough to melt their treat. Yang was most of the way done, confident that it would not make a mess anymore and turned her head to see Nora tonguing the bottom of her cone, desperately trying to get a few sprinkles which had sunk to the bottom. Yang laughed.

“You know you can just eat the cone right?” Nora turned to her, a look of shock on her face. Then she smiled and the cone was gone in three bites. 

“Yeah I know. I just really wanted the sprinkles.” Nora smiled and began licking some stray ice cream off her fingers, putting them in her mouth and sucking on them, making a little popping noise when she pulled them out. Yang ran her finger over the side of her cone, now was the time to do this, she couldn’t delay any longer or Nora might go running off somewhere.

“Hey, can I ask you a question.” Nora popped another finger out of her mouth and looked at Yang, waiting for her question.

“Of course. I hope it isn’t hard though. I’m not really ready for a test.” Yang chuckled nervously, trying to dispel a little of her own tension.

“Sooo, the other night at Junior’s. When those two guys tried to pick us up.” Nora interrupted and Yang took the opportunity to eat what little of her ice cream remained, hoping it might cool the heat in her cheeks.

“Oh my Oum, they were so rude right? At least it gave us an excuse to hit something.” she clenched her fists and a devilish gleam shone in her eyes.

“Yeah,” Yang laughed again and looked at her empty ice cream cone, “but before that, when you tried to get them to go away. You,” she paused, this was the point of no return, “you kissed me and put your arm around me like we were dating or something.” Yang saw a trash can and tossed her cone in it, her stomach was suddenly very unwilling to accept anything else.

“Oh yeah, well they were all over us and I just thought that might get them to leave. I mean if it was obvious we weren’t looking for what they had.” Yang shoved her hands in her pockets, that was the same answer she had gotten before. She looked over at Nora though and saw something that had been missing the other night, a deep red blush. Nora had her hands clenched behind her back and was kicking at a loose pebble with one foot, “I’m sorry if it was weird. I was a little drunk from that awesome drink you got us. I usually don’t do that, Ren tells me I’m really touchy-feely, but I didn’t really think about it.” Yang put a hand to the back of her head and rubbed, she really wasn’t sure still but she needed to keep Nora talking.

“Yeah, no it wasn’t weird for me. Well not when you did it. It was later when I started thinking about it. It just felt like, really natural for you. You did it so quick.” Yang turned and looked away, she couldn’t stand to let Nora see her face now, it was almost as Red as Ruby’s clothes.

“Well, I guess it was kinda natural. You really are gorgeous you know. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I just figured it couldn’t hurt. The guys trying to hit on us was a good excuse. I’m really sorry if it was wrong. I guess Ren’s right, I have to check before I do things like that. I didn’t mean to-” Nora was cut short as Yang spun around and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. She squeezed hard and buried her head in her shoulder, Nora was shocked but quickly returned the hug, resting her head on Yang’s shoulder and letting a grin stupid enough to put Jaune to shame caress her face. After a moment Yang pulled completely away and folded her arms, grabbing her own elbows.

“Nora, I don’t know. I’m really confused about the whole thing. But when you kissed my cheek. It didn’t feel wrong or weird or anything. I’ve never been attracted to a girl.” Nora’s smile faded a little. “But now, I don’t know. I have a lot of fun with you, and there’s something else too.” Nora’s smile returned full force and she tried to control her voice, not letting it break into high pitched squeals.

“Yang, okay. Okay Yang. uhh well, what do you want to do then? Do you wanna keep hanging out or talk to someone? I, well I wish I could say I could help you figure it out. But like, I don’t know if I’m the right person because it’s me you’re confused about. But, if you want to talk to me about it I totally will, I will really really try and be helpful. I just.” Nora let out a little scream and darted forward, giving Yang a quick hug and then pulling back, “I’m sorry. I just. I really meant it when I said I thought you were really pretty. I didn’t even think that- Oh, now I’m just pressuring you. I think I should go.” Nora darted in for another quick hug, lingering a moment longer this time and then went running off. Yang was left in the middle of the walkway, harboring a deep embarrassment and an even deeper confusion over what had just happened.

What she had learned is that Nora was definitely into girls, or at least into her. She was pretty sure from everything she said and the way she reacted to her comments that Nora was a lesbian, which explained the whole Ren business. Of course the two weren’t together if she wasn’t into guys, that made it make perfect sense. Then Yang felt kind of bad because she realized that Ren might have feelings for Nora and that was probably a really awkward situation for them. Then again, he never seemed awkward and the two got along just fine so they had probably figured it out. So what was that little episode with Nora at the end and why had she gone running off like that? Yang shook her head and sighed openly, she had done this to get an answer, but now it seemed like she was even more confused than before. Now that she was certain Nora liked her, and that the kiss the other night had meant something. How did she feel?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed Chapter Three as well. I usually use these author notes to stay in touch with my audience, give updates on my work and that but I am posting all of these stories at once to catch up to my FanFiction.net Profile so there's nothing to catch you up on until the last chapter. If you're looking for the most up to date info on my work, please check out my page here.
> 
> -Zach


	4. Siblings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang wandered about the school grounds, not wanting to return to her room because of the risk of running into Nora. She wasn’t as nervous or afraid as she had been, the idea of running into the redhead no longer made her quiver. But, she wasn’t ready to face her yet. She didn’t have answers of her own and knew that a conversation with Nora right now would be very hard to have without those answers. Yang kicked a pebble off the path in front of her, it went flying forward, clipped the fountain in front of her, taking a small chip with it and went skittering to the ground a hundred or so yards further down the path. Yang winced as she realized she must be incredibly tense and had kicked with far more force than she had intended. She silently hoped that Goodwitch of all people hadn’t seen her and forced herself to sit on a bench, trying to relax. She closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply, she could feel it working, the tension slowly easing out of her body with every exhale.

“Hey sis’,” Yang’s eyes shot open in surprise and all she could see was Ruby’s face. Her little sister was extremely close and Yang knew full well that Ruby had wanted to startle her. She wouldn’t let her have the satisfaction and so tried to play it off  as much as possible.

“Oh hey Rubes. What’s up?” Yang threw her hands behind her head and leaned back in the bench.

“Oh nuthin’. I was just headed back to the room. It’s gettin’ kinda late.” Ruby glanced up at the sky and Yang followed her eyes. She hadn’t noticed but it was already getting dark. The sun had begun to dip below the horizon and was throwing long orange rays across the campus. The light pole’s and fountain’s shadows had grown long and Yang let out a yawn, “So what’s up with you? Just sittin’?” Yang stood up and put an arm around her little sister in a short hug and they started towards the dorms.

“Yeah, I’ve had a lot on my mind lately and I needed to think.” Yang tucked her hands in her pockets and watched the ground pass under her feet.

“You wanna talk about it? I promise I’ll listen and I will try my hardest not to interrupt in the middle.” Ruby’s eyes were huge and shining, like the unrisen moon. Yang decided that if anybody deserved to know what was troubling her and might be able to help her get a hold of herself it would be her sister, there was no one in the world she cherished or trusted more.

“Okay, you gotta promise though.” Yang gave Ruby a hard glance and the little girl made an exaggerated sign of sealing her lips like a zipper, Yang smiled and dove into her explanation. She told Ruby all about what had happened at the club, the guys hitting on them and what Nora had done to try and stop them. Ruby stifled a laugh when Yang told her about Nora bashing one with a bottle but managed to not say a word. Then Yang told her about her talk with Blake and then lunch with Nora. Ruby started to realize the gravity of what Yang was talking about and her silly grin faded to a contemplative, almost stern face as Yang finished explaining the talk she and Nora had had. They reached the quad area outside their dorm building and Yang stopped to look up at the window that she knew was Team JNPR’s room. Ruby grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her over to the fountain in the center of the quad. They sat down on the edge of the fountain, Ruby grabbed both of Yang’s hand and stared deep into her eyes. For a moment they sat there and Ruby didn’t say anything. Yang finally spoke up, “You can talk now Ruby, I’m done.” Ruby breathed a huge sigh of relief.   


“Oh thank you. I wasn’t sure and I promised not to interrupt and this isn’t like ‘Oh no, I think I might do bad on tomorrow’s test’ this is like actually really important stuff.” Ruby stopped and squeezed Yang’s hands. She shut her eyes and thought for a moment and then opened them slowly, “Yang, you said you think Nora’s cute right?”

Yang nodded her head.

“And you had a lot of fun with her the other night?”

Yang nodded again, “Yeah”

“Okay, well what has it been like before when you’ve liked a boy? How do you know when you like someone like that?” she put emphasis on the ‘you’.

Yang paused, she hadn’t tried to think of it that way. She thought and thought about boys she had dated in the past. There were a few during her time at Signal. Nothing was ever very serious, they were so young and the pressures on them to become capable huntresses and get into places like Beacon were so high. As Yang thought about it she couldn’t come up with an answer because even the boys she had dated she couldn’t particularly say she had liked in the romantic sense. They were all just cute boys who were fun to hang out with and met her standards of being strong, capable and polite to her, her family and friends. Past that nothing had ever really developed so she looked back to her sister.

“I don’t know Ruby.”

“Well. Is it like a crush? Like you can’t stop thinking about her all the time, you dream about her, you stare at her in class?” Ruby clasped her hands together under her chin and swayed back and forth slightly, Yang blushed slightly and crossed her arms in indignation.

“No it’s not like that. C’mon Rubes I’m not swooning over her.” Yang turned her chin up with a huff, “It’s more like. When I’m with her I’m able to really relax and let go of a lot of the stuff that always bothering me like school and training and all that. And there’s this… I don’t know how to explain it.” Yang paused and turned back, meeting Ruby’s gaze again. Her sister’s eyes had regained their seriousness and it was strange for Yang to see such focus there. She turned away and regarded her own reflection in the water of the fountain. “It’s like a warm feeling, not just around her, but when she does certain things. When she’s goofy or silly, when she plays out the scenes in her head or gets way too excited about simple things. When she gets aggressive and wants to fight, when she gets happy and wants to dance around in the middle of the classroom, I just get this warm feeling I guess, it’s like the way I felt when I found out you were coming to school with me, or when we get to go home and see Dad in Patch after a long time away.” She slowly raised her head back and found her sister, had vibrating with barely contained excitement. Ruby dove forward and tackled her sister in a hug. They fell off to the side of the fountain, both laughing.

“Oh Yang you really really like her.” Her sister was beaming, a huge smile across her face.

“Yeah but Ruby, she’s a girl.” Yang eased herself up and Ruby slid off of her.

“And?” Ruby threw her hands up in frustration, “You said she likes girls right? And you like her. Isn’t that all that matters?” She gave Yang a playful shove and laughed again.

“I guess, I mean maybe. I don’t know. Isn’t that weird though?” Yang took the shove playfully but was still troubled.

“No, it’s not weird Yang. Like you said, she’s super cute and fun and awesome, who cares if you’re both girls?” Ruby jumped to her feet and extended a hand to help Yang stand. Yang took it happily

“You’re right Ruby. Who cares.” Yang leaned for ward and picked her little sister up in a bone crushing hug, “I love you sis’” she put her down. Ruby blushed and waved it away, looking off to the side.

“Oh I love you too Yang.” she grabbed Yang’s hand and pulled her off towards the dorms, “C’mon, let’s get to our room.”

The two girls came trotting up the hallway, smiles still stretched across their faces. They reached their and Team JNPR’s doors and stopped in the hallway.

“Alright Rubes, I’m gonna talk to her right now.” Yang leaned forward and gave her sister another tight hug, “Thank you”

“Good Luck Yang” Ruby turned and entered their room, stopping with the door half shut, “Go get her sis’.” They smiled to each other and Ruby closed the door. Yang took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, there was no turning back after this. Once that door opened she would be facing all new parts of herself that she had never explored before. She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head, clenching both fists, come on Xiao Long. Yang opened her eyes, fierce determination burning behind them. She knocked on the door. There was a pause and she could hear nothing behind the door. Another moment and she started to feel doubt, maybe they weren’t in. Then the door opened slowly to reveal Ren.

“Yang, good evening.” the young man was standing there quite calmly, his demeanor revealing nothing about himself.

“Oh hey Ren. Is Nora in? I kinda wanted to talk to her.” Yang stood on her toes, trying to look around Ren or over his shoulder to see into the room, searching for Nora.

“She is not. I had her run to the library for me to pick up some books we need. Would you come in?” the boy stepped to the side and swept his arm inward, beckoning Yang into the room. Yang hesitated and he caught her eyes, “I wish to speak with you about Nora.” Yang stiffened in surprise, what could Ren want? She walked uneasily into the room, Ren motioned to one of the beds and she sat, he sat across from her.

Team JNPR’s room was set-up in much the same way Yang figured most of the student’s must be, all four beds alongside each other with a thin path between each, their desks pushed against the opposite side of the room and dressers tucked into the corners. Yang was glad Ruby had the bunk bed idea, they really had a lot more space in their dorm. She eased down onto the bed and waited for Ren to say something. He sat quite still and silent for a long moment before speaking.

“Nora talked with me about your conversation earlier. So you know how close she and I are.” Yang nodded her head and went to speak but something about Ren’s attitude stopped her, the boy never spoke much and now that he was, she wanted to hear what he had to say. “She and I have been through much. When we were younger she was the strong one, defending me, protecting me while we grew. Now that we are older, I find myself having to defend her. She is so kind, and generous with her friendship. She is also rather naive and jumps headlong into situations.” Yang nodded her head, she understood where he was coming from. She felt the constant need to defend Ruby for mostly the same reasons. But Nora was better than Ruby right? She was two years older after all.

“Okay Ren, but she’s not in any danger. I’m not going to hurt her.” Ren nodded and smiled pleasantly. 

“I don’t believe you would, not intentionally. But you are not sure about your feelings, correct?” Ren paused and waited for Yang to nod her head, “Nora is very sure of hers. She is not interested in men at all and understands that many people look down on those with her,” he paused, searching for the right word, “preferences. So she is rather guarded with them and doesn’t often pursue those she is attracted to out of fear. I want to ensure that she does not put herself out in the open without good reason.” Yang tried to take in what he was saying. She had been so wrapped up in trying to figure out how she felt about all of this that she hadn’t even stopped to consider Nora’s side of things.

It was true, Team’s RWBY and JNPR were really very close and had been getting closer throughout the school year, but no one on RWBY knew about Nora and from their earlier conversation it would seem that Pyrrha didn’t either, that or she was very good at keeping her teammate’s secret.Yang leaned back on her hands and thought for a moment, Ren sat quietly, back perfectly straight with his hands folded in his lap, patiently waiting.

“Ren. I don’t want to hurt Nora. But, you’re right, I don’t know exactly how I feel about this. I’m closer now than I was earlier, but, I need to talk to her about it.” Ren nodded his head in understanding.

“And you deserve that. I wanted to ensure that you knew everything going in.” He gave her another pleasant smile.

“Thank you Ren. I will really do my best to do right by her.” Yang stood and Ren did as well. She extended a hand and he grabbed it in a polite handshake.

“If you want to find her, she is most likely still searching the library. The books I sent her for do not actually exist.” Yang smiled as she made her way to the door, there was far more to Ren than what he let on.

“I’m gonna run over then. Thanks.” Yang turned out the door and shut it gently behind her. She bolted down the hallway, not wanting to waste any time or risk missing her.  
  
Now that she had talked to Ren she felt like she had some sort of blessing going forward. She knew that Nora didn’t have any family and that she didn’t need anyone’s permission to pursue her but it felt good to know that the person closest to her was okay with this. She leapt down the stairs and through the double doors, it felt like she was always chasing after this girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the thing really gets rolling. This chapter is shorter but is just a teaser of what's coming later.


	5. One Small Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She just has to take it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang sprinted across the courtyards and down the flagstone path. The sun had nearly disappeared, only the last vestiges of sunset still holding off the coming night. Some students were milling about, finding their way between late afternoon study sessions or headed off for something to relax themselves after the long day. Yang’s hurried figure stood out among the early evening calm, students quickly jumping out of the way to let her pass. At Beacon, you never knew if someone was running late for a test or hurrying to save someone’s life. Yang just wanted to tell a certain redhead exactly how she felt about her. She reached the library, huge and ornate, and nearly ran through the sliding glass doors as she came up to the entrance. They slowly slid open and gave Yang a chance to check herself, she was here now, she could breathe.

Yang straightened her clothes, slightly disheveled as they were from her dash over here, and she wanted to look her best for this particular moment. She stepped into the library and ran both hands under her hair, flipping the mass of locks outward and letting it fall lightly against her back. She gave her head a little jiggle and made sure it all fell in a way that looked good. It was a practiced motion and she needed only the distracted stares from several boys in the room to tell her she had done her job correctly. She smirked slightly, confident in her appearance and scanned quickly around the entryway. There were several tables for group studying and a row of computers along one wall. The library was fairly empty, only a handful of students here on a weeknight without the end of the term approaching. But, the fiery redhead she was searching for was nowhere to be seen. Yang figured she must be deeper in the library, desperately searching for the books Ren had sent her after. So, she casually sauntered in, confidence was ninety percent appearance for Yang. If she could appear in control then she could fool herself into thinking she was prepared for this talk.

She made her way up the stairs, looking out over the bottom floor one final time before turning her attention to the second floor. This area was much more devoted to books and computers than the floor beneath. There were several large tables spread out but they were intended to be used for intense studying, large enough to accommodate a spread of texts from multiple students and leave room for notes. Also, Yang knew first hand that they were the perfect size for overly large board games. She smiled remembering she and her sister’s attempts at pulling Weiss and Blake into their obsession with tabletop games. It had been mostly successful but they should probably choose a simpler game next time. Yang allowed her focus to slip back to finding Nora and threw her glance casually around the floor. She couldn’t see the girl anywhere and wandering around looking would probably be as useless as Nora’s search was. There were four more floors in addition to the two she had already visited and she could be on any one of them. Determined to find her and surprise her with her presence Yang struck out to find a librarian. They would most certainly know where Nora was because there was no way she had not been disturbing the peace they strove so fervently to maintain.

“Hi, I’m looking for a friend who’s somewhere in here.” Yang smiled congenially at the petite brunette librarian, she had long dark hair and round glasses. Supposedly the librarian look was cute, but Yang still had eyes for only one girl. “She’s short, wears pink and white and has short cut orange hair.” Yang held her hand at just about ear height to indicate the length of Nora’s hair. The librarian smiled. 

“Oh yes, I helped her. Or rather I tried. She is looking for several titles which do not exist, or at least that I have never heard of. I ended up directing her to the non-fiction research logs upstairs as she refused to take no for an answer.” the girl pulled a small piece of cardstock with a simple map printed on it, “This is the fourth floor. She should be somewhere in here if she hasn’t moved on yet.” The girl indicated a section of shelves and Yang smiled in thanks.

“Thanks.” Yang whispered and turned with a wave. The girl gave Yang a quiet smile and returned to her computer and whatever work she had been doing. Yang quickly but respectfully made her way to the stairs and climbed two more flights, bringing her to the fourth floor. There was almost no one here, and the few that were present were undoubtedly graduate students, people like Dr. Oobleck with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Yang looked quickly around and didn’t see Nora, then she heard the only real noise on the floor outside of gentle page flipping. Several loud thunks and an annoyed groan. Several of the readers shot the general direction an annoyed glance and quickly returned to their tasks. The blonde grinned and beelined for the noise, knowing that it was exactly what she was looking for.

She came around the edge of a bookshelf and found Nora lying on the ground surrounded by a small pile of large text books, all splayed open and scattered about the floor. Nora was rubbing her tailbone and looking despondently at the mostly empty top shelf and then glanced at the toppled step stool further down the hall.

“You know, this is a library miss. You’re supposed to be quiet” Yang whispered harshly at Nora, trying her best to imitate a certain white haired teammate of hers. Nora jerked her head around and caught Yang’s eyes. She threw both hands over her mouth to stifle a noise somewhere between and shriek and a giggle. Yang shook her head with a smile and quickly stepped forward to offer a hand. Nora got her vocal cords under control and accepted the hand up. She leaned close to Yang’s ear and whispered overly loudly.

“Okay, but your impression is only better because you live with her.” Nora pulled back with a restrained giggle and then looked down at the books.

“Here. I’ll hop on the ladder if you hand me the books.” Nora smiled at Yang’s offer and immediately righted the ladder, Yang climbed up and together they corrected the mess Nora had made. Yang was significantly taller than Nora and so had very little trouble replacing the books, especially with the step stool beneath her. Several times while they were working Nora’s fingers would brush innocently against Yang’s and although she seemed to ignore the contact completely Yang couldn’t help but feel a twinge of excitement and apprehension at every brush.

They finally finished replacing the heavy tomes and Yang descended the ladder, replacing it at the end of the row for others to use. Nora seemed about to burst but Yang put a finger to her lips and shushed the other girl. She motioned for her to follow and led her outside. On their way out, Yang caught sight of the librarian who had helped her and jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Nora. The girl smiled politely and Yang waved a thank you as they continued their trek to the ground floor. They reached the sliding glass doors and waited patiently for them to slide open. Nora stepped through them with uncharacteristic calm and turned to watch them close behind her. As soon as the sides touched in the middle with a soft noise she released an over the top sigh and let her shoulders slump dramatically towards the ground. The air was fresh and the moon was now peeking over the hills to the East of Beacon. The sun had vanished and the stars were began to shine out against the deep blue of the night sky. This far from the city the students were afforded a decent view of the constellations.

“Oh wow, it felt like I was being led to the electric chair.” then she burst out laughing, “Because that would even work on me” she clutched her sides and began laughing overly hard. Yang couldn’t help but laugh with her and at the imagined impression of an executioner after flipping the switch, only to see Nora’s hair standing on end and a devilish gleam in her eyes. Nora mocked being shocked, making her limbs go rigid and bouncing about erratically. After a moment Yang regained herself and remembered why she had come to grab Nora in the first place.

“Nora, Nora wait. I had something serious.” Yang tried to reel herself in but the freckled girl’s laughs were contagious. Nora continued her impression, going limp for a moment and then resuming the jerking sensations, making buzzing and popping noises the entire time. After a moment Yang repeated herself, a little louder this time and in more control of herself. Nora heard her tone and stood, giggling with the end of her fit of laughter. “Okay first, the books are fake. Ren and I had to have a private discussion so he sent you after them.” Nora gasped and took a step back, one hand to her mouth and the other held out defensively.

“Yang, I thought… You and Ren? I mean that’s great but-” Yang cut her off before her brain carried her too far away from reality.

“No Nora, oh Oum no, he wanted to talk to me about you. And umm about me, and us I guess.” Yang was so sure of herself going in, but putting it out in words was always harder than thinking it through, especially when she had to constantly reign Nora’s imagination in. But at the word ‘us’ Nora sobered considerably and the same nervous, expectant look from after lunch grabbed hold of her.

“Oh…” she trailed off before she even began, waiting for Yang. Yang cleared her throat and tried to stand a little taller, confidence girl.

“So, well, I talked to my sister, and I talked to Ren and I even talked to myself a little,” Nora snickered, “because Nora I don’t know what’s going on here.” Yang motioned at the space inbetween them. It was only a few feet but the space felt impassable to Yang. “I, well I really have a lot of fun with you. You’re awesome and funny and energetic and spontaneous and always make me laugh.” Nora blushed at Yang’s compliments, visibly struck by her words but she continued, “Plus I uhh..” Yang shied a little, heat rising to her cheeks, “I think you’re really cute.” Yang fell to silence after her last utterance, not sure exactly how to continue. That had been the easy part. Luckily Nora finally felt the need to speak up.

“I have a lot of fun with you too Yang. Around you I can really let go and be all of me. Plus I already told I think you’re just gorgeous.” Nora flustered again and now Yang blushed harder. The compliment helped solidify her confidence though and gave her the will to continue.

“The thing is though Nora,” Yang paused, “You’re a girl and well I’m a girl and I don’t know what to do with that.” Nora smile faded a little and her head drooped, this was her constant fear. It’s what Ren had told Yang, what he had warned her about. Nora never put her feelings out there because she knew that most girls she ran into probably weren’t gay too and so she didn’t want to get hurt all the time. Yang saw her smile drop and rushed through her next few sentences. She didn’t want Nora to get the wrong idea. “I have no problem with that. It’s just that you’re the first girl I’ve ever felt this way towards and so I don’t know what it is.” Nora lifted her eyes and Yang saw shimmering, unshed tears there. Yang felt a shudder and decided right there that tears in those pale green eyes was the saddest thing she had ever seen. “I want to try this,” Yang gestured back and forth between herself and Nora, “I just want you to know that it’s new ground for me.”

A single tear slid down Nora’s cheek but her lips spread into an uneasy smile. She walked forward towards Yang and stopped just a foot or so short. She extended her arms out towards the blonde and waited, eyes locked on to Yang’s brilliant purple ones. Yang took one small step and closed the gap between the two. She closed her arms around the girl and they hugged, gently holding each other close. Nora rested her forehead on Yang’s shoulder and she could feel the tears from earlier soak easily into the cloth of her shirt and jacket. Yang pulled Nora close and felt her strong arms squeeze back. This was okay, this was definitely something Yang could get used to. 

As they stood there, holding each other Yang looked out over the rooftops of the school and saw the edge of the moon creeping gently higher. Some pieces of the shattered side were still visible, tonight would be their last visible night and then they would float around the opposite side, showing only a complete, marless surface to the world for a few nights before the broken, shattered face returned and the pieces came orbiting back around to this side. It was a beautiful cycle they all got to watch played out every few weeks. Nora pulled away, out of the embrace but still close enough for their arms to remain around one another and Yang brought her attention back to the even more beautiful girl she had in her arms.

“Yang. I’m so happy. I don’t even know what to say. I just,” Nora paused and wiped an errant tear from her eye, “I want you to know that I am so proud of you and I will be the best girlfriend anyone has ever had for you.” Yang smiled, a huge silly grin.

“Well you’ll definitely be the best I’ve ever had.” She laughed and Nora let her hand slide down from where she had left it on the small of Yang’s back, along her smooth, muscled arm to find her hand, still at the back of Nora’s shoulders. Yang let their fingers wrap about each other and her laugh faded to a sleepy smile. They pulled apart, keeping their conjoined hands between them and faced down the path back towards their rooms. Nora let her arm fall underneath Yang’s, allowing Yang the dominant position and rested her head on the taller girl’s shoulder. Together they walked like that, slowly making their way to their rooms. “Thank you though Nora. I’m really nervous about all of this. I haven’t done something this new in, well ever I think.” Nora hummed with contentment before replying.

“It’s enough that you even decided to Yang. If you ever feel weird or uncomfortable or anything just tell me. I want you to be sure the entire time.” Nora never looked up at Yang, perfectly content to leave her head right where it was, and Yang wasn’t complaining.

“Well, you’re off to a great start here.” Yang smiled and squeezed Nora’s hand a little tighter, the redhead pushed her head onto Yang’s shoulder and hugged her arm closer to her torso. The rest of the trip back to the dorms passed in silence, just the muted footfalls of the newly minted couple and the quiet sounds of evening at Beacon. Wind coming off the coast rustled through the branches of the tall trees and insects started up their nightly chorus of noises. Several other students passed Yang and Nora as they walked. Most completely ignored them, giving the exact amount of attention anyone else walking down the path got, but a few made obvious note of the couple. Some smiled, some seemed almost startled and a few gave them a wide berth as they passed. Yang noted this and wondered at it.

She and Nora would definitely not be the first gay or even lesbian couple on campus. Everyone was fully aware that Coco and Velvet were a rather established item at the school, especially since Coco made nearly zero efforts to conceal her affections for her Faunus teammate. Yang had never thought it strange or offensive that the two girls were together. It was really adorable how flustered Velvet would grow when Coco would pat her bottom on the way past or make very lustful glances at her over the top of her sunglasses. So why was Yang noticing all this attention now? And so quickly as well? She was sure it was nothing, probably most of the attention was because she and Nora were such a new couple. They were only what five minutes into this relationship? So the glances were most likely because no one was aware and it took them by surprise. Yang pulled away slightly and looked down to Nora. Her new girlfriend pulled away and looked up to meet her glance.

“Something wrong?” Her eyes were clear now, shining and bright the way Yang hoped they would stay. But, when Yang hesitated a gloss of concern came over them.

“No, nothing at all. Just happy.” Yang gave Nora a gentle smile and loosed her hand, reaching her arm up and over Nora’s wide shoulders to pull her close. Nora grinned with contentment and slid her hand around Yang’s waist, letting it set right above her waistline. She leaned her head on Yang’s shoulder again and Yang dropped her head to rest on top of Nora’s. Her mane of golden hair fell like a curtain behind them, obscuring their arms and swaying slightly as they walked.

They got to the dorm building and made their way gently up the stairs. They pulled apart and simply held hands on their way through the building as walking up the stairs while wrapped around each other’s torsos proved prohibitive. Their feet padded softly against the lush carpet, hushing their walk from the stairs to their adjacent doors. They stopped outside the rooms and turned to face each other, grabbing hold of both hands. A door down the hallway opened and they stepped to Team RWBY’s side of the hall to make way for the other student. They both leaned on the wall, keeping hold of the other’s hands and gazed into the opposite set of eyes.

“So this part will be nice won’t it?” Yang smiled, under the brighter light she was able to take in Nora’s face. She had known the girl for almost a year now and had never taken the time to really learn her face. Her eyes were wide and fully open all the time, brimming with the energy she was always barely containing. Her bright orange hair fell in messy bangs over her face and around her head and her smile...that smile stretched from ear to ear, radiating with her constant positive feelings. “Hey Yang, Nora to Yang. Anyone in there.” There was a sharp but gentle flick at her forehead and Yang came to attention.

“Hey- Yeah, what’s up.” Yang shook her head a little, forcing herself to focus. Nora just giggled and smiled.

“Isn’t it gonna be great? Living so close to each other.” Yang looked up from her face and at Team JNPR’s door, then over Nora’s head at Team RWBY’s door. 

“Wow I guess I hadn’t really considered it. Yeah it will be.” then she smiled, “Maybe I’ll actually be on time to pick you up for dates and stuff.” Nora giggled again and squeezed Yang’s hands.

“And who said you were gonna pick me up? You just have to make sure you are all dolled up for me when I come get you.” Nora poked Yang in the nose and she screwed up her face a little.

“Is that...?” she paused and her face took on a more confused look, “Is that how it works? I’m not really the dolling up type. I mean I can but-” Nora cut her off.

“I was kidding Yang I’m sorry. We can handle it however you want. If you wanna come grab me or I can get you, or we can walk out into the hallway at exactly the same time and get each other. But that might be hard to get just right and we might mess it up and then it could be awkward.” Yang laughed and squeezed Nora’s hands and she stopped rambling, “However you want Yang.” Yang pulled Nora into another hug, holding her close. Nora smiled into her shoulder and nuzzled her head into the crook of Yang’s neck, squeezing her right back. They pulled apart and Yang sighed.

“I think we both have to go. Our teams are waiting for us with a million questions I’m sure.” Yang looked to her door forlornly but smiled as she turned back to Nora, “They should all be really happy though right?”

“Well they might be a little jealous. I mean, I took the hottest girl at Beacon off the market.” Nora giggled and flashed Yang a devious little smile. Yang laughed and blushed slightly at the praise, she knew she was hot, always had known, but hearing it from another girl like that, hearing it from Nora like that was entirely new. She squeezed Nora’s hands one final time and raised herself from the hallway wall. Nora stood as well, wearing that adorably giant grin.

“I’ll see you in the morning?” Yang asked of the little redhead.

“Well yeah, we have class together don’t we?” Nora smiled and opened her door, slipping inside before Yang could answer. The blonde stood there and smiled at the door like an idiot, lost in her thoughts of the girl. She jumped at the sound of a familiar voice from her side.

“I assume it went well then?” Blake was sticking her head out of the room. Yang shot her an accusing look, eyeing her bow and the concealed Faunus ears underneath. Had she been eavesdropping? “Before you ask, yes. And also, Ruby made me. I do not apologize.” With that Blake ducked back into the room, leaving the door open for Yang to enter. Yang shook her head and chuckled before following her partner in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everybody happy to see that finally happen? I know I was happy to write it. But, just because the ship has sailed does not mean it's over. There's plenty more Collateral Damage to come.


	6. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So they're a couple, now what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang shook her head as she turned into her team’s room. Of course her team had been spying on her, she knew they would be curious and her little sister was the team leader so what other eventuality was there? As she closed the door and turned about Yang was tackled to the wall by a small cloaked girl, her sister.

“Ooohhhh Yang I'm so happy!” Ruby had wrapped her arms around Yang’s waist and was squeezing, wiggling herself excitedly back and forth against her sister’s torso, “Was it super romantic? How did it happen? You have to tell us Yang.” Ruby stepped back and grabbed Yang by both hands, forcibly pulling her over to the bed and setting her down. Yang laughed uneasily at Ruby’s eagerness and caught Blake’s eyes across the room. Blake was seated, cross legged on Ruby’s bunk waiting patiently for the scene to unfold. Not finding any help there Yang searched for Weiss and found her on her bunk beneath Blake, she was sitting as demurely as ever, legs crossed slightly in front of her, back as straight as her rapier. Her glacial eyes were calm and unreadable, but she was too was paying rapt attention to the blonde. It looked as if her team was as interested as she thought they would be and they would not be giving her any privacy. Yang sighed and looked up at them all with a smile.

“Okay, well first Ren wanted to talk to me. He was being really protective of Nora and wanted to warn me about how I treat her and all that. I kind of got the idea of why boys were always so scared to meet Dad and Uncle Qrow.” Ruby giggled out loud and retreated to Weiss’s bunk, sitting down and pulling her legs up, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees.

“So Nora wasn't in her room?” Ruby’s eyes were alight with anticipation.

“No, Ren had gotten her to leave so he could talk to me. He told me she was in the library and I went to find her. She was in there, making a mess and dumping books all over the floor.” Yang smiled and thought back to how she had found the girl, “It was really adorable, the books didn't exist but she was so determined to find them for Ren.” Blake smiled lightly and reclined against the pillows of Ruby’s bed, stretching her long legs out along the bunk. Weiss stiffened at the mention of the library.

“You two together are going to be so destructive.” She tsked and shook her head side to side.

“Oh relax Ice Queen, we put all the books back.” Weiss didn't relent her icy stare but remained silent so Yang could continue, “So we went outside,” Yang looked at Weiss, “So we wouldn't disturb all the people studying in the library,” and back to her sister, “We went outside and talked about this whole thing. About how unsure I am and I don't want to lead her on about things.” Blake nodded her head in approval.

“That was surprisingly mature of you.” Yang shot Blake a dirty look.

“I am perfectly capable of being a mature person about things.” she let her face crack into an easy grin, “It's just so much easier not to be isn't it?” Ruby and Yang laughed but Weiss shook her head again.

“I don't know what Ren told you but if you play with Nora _I_ will make sure you regret it forever.” Weiss crossed her arms and gave Yang another hard glare.

“Weeiisss!” Ruby whined, “Stop it! Yang is not playing around. She's really serious about this. We had a real sister talk and everything.” Ruby began playfully hitting Weiss with a pillow and the heiress did not take it well. After the second hit she stood quickly. Ruby’s third swing hit nothing but open air and her momentum carried her flipping off the bed. She landed on her back at the white haired girl’s feet, her hood flipped up over her eyes.

“This is serious Ruby.” Weiss turned on Yang, “Nora is putting an incredible amount of trust in you. You need to respect that.” Yang jumped up from her seat, matching Weiss’s ice cold stare with a flaming anger of her own.

“I know this is serious Weiss. You don't think it's serious for me too?” Yang was raising her voice now, “This is a huge deal for me!” Weiss visibly backed down and Yang caught herself, “I'm scared Weiss. I don't know, I really don't.” Yang softened considerably and averted her gaze from Weiss, “I really do like her and I want to figure this out. I want to know more about me.” Yang returned her gaze to Weiss, “That's what Nora and I talked about. She wants to help me, she wants to be the one I figure it out with.”

Weiss was struck silent by Yang’s outburst. Ruby had slowly picked herself up off the ground and was sitting calmly on the floor, listening intently to every word her sister said. Blake had sat back up during Yang’s emotional tirade, she was literally on the edge of her seat, hands gripping the edge of the mattress for stability, rapt with attention. As Yang finished, the energy went out of her and her shoulders fell. The day had been emotionally draining for her, and this final outburst with her team and sister, basically her family, had drained her. Ruby stood and Blake hopped silently to the floor. Without a word the girls stepped forward and gently wrapped their arms around the blonde. Weiss caught the notion and joined in the team hug, resting her head on Yang’s shoulder.

A single tear rose in Yang’s eyes and she blinked it away, hugging her little family back and lifting her face to the ceiling to stop any more tears from forming.

“We are here to support you Yang, no matter what.” Blake said gently from beside her.

“I love you Yang. I know we all do.” Ruby closed her eyes as she nuzzled her head into the crook of her sister’s arm.

“I’m sorry Yang. I just.” Weiss paused, trying to find the right words, “I get so flustered sometimes and you’re so headstrong, that I forget you don’t have yourself completely figured out. I promise I will be here for you to talk to or talk at or whatever you need.” They stood there for another long moment, all the girls arms wrapped around Yang in a loving embrace. They didn’t know what Yang was feeling and they couldn’t see her face to get any sort of read on her so they just held her, wanting nothing in return. After a protracted silence Yang finally spoke up.

“Thank you” she paused to save her voice from breaking, “Thank you so much guys. You’re the best team I could ask for.” She gave them all a final squeeze and they broke apart. Yang wiped at her face, despite having successfully prevented even a single tear from falling and then let out a heavy sigh. “I am so tired. Today has been a hell of day.” They all laughed, easing the pressure in the room after the intensely emotional bonding moment. They then went about their business getting ready for bed. Ruby was still dressed in her full combat outfit but both Weiss and Blake were already in their pajamas. Yang took the first shot at the bathroom and Weiss and Blake both moved to their respective bunks. After a short while they were all in bed with the lights out, the room illuminated only by the gentle glow of the moon gleaming through the window. The moon beams fell across Yang’s face and danced in the curls of her hair.

“I love you girls. I’ll see you in the morning.” Yang rolled over to shield her eyes from the moonlight and let herself drift away. Her teammates and sister each responded in kind, echoing the sentiment to everyone else in the room.  

  
__________________________________________

 

Morning came and Yang rolled groggily out of bed. She had been so exhausted that she had slept the entire night seemingly without moving. She fell heavily to the floor, groaning and stretching her arms out to the sides. She stifled a loud yawn with her hand and turned to regard the opposite two bunks. Weiss was already seated on the edge of her bed, brushing out her long white hair with slow careful strokes. Her hair was so soft and smooth, like liquid satin falling about her shoulders. Yang scratched the back of her head and felt her curls, soft and smooth under her fingers but nothing like the heiress’s. How did she do that? Ruby emerged from the bathroom, a large cloud of steam billowing into the room as she gasped in excitement.

“Good morning. I feel like I'm finally awake.” Ruby was wearing a towel wrapped tightly around her upper body, she lifted her hands and rubbed at her hair with another smaller towel. Yang laughed at her little sister’s exuberance even this early in the morning.

“This is why I never got hot water at home.” Yang laughed and headed for the bathroom, she really was happy that they never ran out of hot water here. She walked into the still fog filled bathroom, closed the door and stripped off her clothes.the mirror was heavily glossed over from Ruby’s scalding shower so Yang wiped at it haphazardly with a spare wash cloth. Through the streaks of clarity she was able to see herself a little clearer, bold yellow hair and pale white skin standing out starkly against the drab interior of the bathroom. She turned slightly, pushing one shoulder forward so she could examine her back side as well. Yang was perfectly content with what she saw. She had been fit before but the increased training regimen here at Beacon alongside her natural competitive spirit to do better than the others had toned her body down to a chiseled mass of muscle. Her legs were firm even at rest, the skin of her stomach pulled taut across her powerful core and her arms and shoulders had swelled with strength. She didn't even have to flex to see the muscles she worked so hard to grow and maintain.

Yang stretched over and turned the water on, much cooler than Ruby had had it and gave it a second to cool the pipes down before stepping in. She considered Team JNPR’s morning routine for the first time ever. Was it different for them because there room was mixed gender? Ruby had just stepped out into the main living area, with all team members present and was not dressed at all appropriately for if boys were around. But then, Pyrrha was definitely too reserved to do even that. Jaune and Ren were both boys and so had only one area that needed covering and Nora. Well Nora probably wouldn’t care what her teammates saw, but Yang was sure that Ren and Jaune had quickly taught her the importance of modesty. Yang blushed slightly, imagining Nora emerging from the bathroom, bra half on, asking after her socks and wondering why Pyrrha had turned as red as her hair. Yang turned the water a little colder and stepped in.

After her shower Yang emerged back into the room. Ruby was just finishing lacing up her boots, Weiss was already studying and Blake was staring out the window into the branches of the tree outside.

“Don’t go leaping out after a bird Blake,” Blake turned with a start and shot a rueful glare at Yang and then returned to staring at the tree. Yang laughed and shook her hair to one side. She sat down at her desk and started the arduous process of brushing her mane out. Ruby jumped up with a start and yelped in excitement.

“Oh my Oum, guys do you remember what today is?” Ruby turned between her three teammates. Blake had turned her attention to their leader but said nothing, Weiss was still nose deep in her book and Yang caught Ruby’s eyes in the small mirror over her desk. “C’mon guys it’s a huge deal! How are you not excited?” Weiss lifted her eyes from the text with a sigh.

“Why would we be excited for a test in Professor Goodwitch’s class?” Ruby face fell and she spun to her partner.

“What? We have a test in Goodwitch’s? Why didn’t you tell me? Ohhhhhh, that’s not good.” Weiss sighed and tucked her finger in her book to hold her place before closing it.

“I did tell you Ruby. On Friday night when Yang went out. I said you should study but you said you had all weekend to study and then ate a pile of cookies, watched cat videos on your scroll and passed out by ten pm.” Weiss sighed and Yang laughed.

“That does sound like you sis’,” Ruby groaned and flung her hands up in the air.

“This is hopeless, And here I was all excited for Dr. Oobleck’s lecture on the history of weapon personalization. Professor Goodwitch ruins everything.” Ruby threw herself down on the bed and pushed a half-hearted scream into the comforter.

“Isn’t she the reason you’re at Beacon so early Ruby?” Blake sank to a seated position on the windowsill and cast a playful glance at her leader. Ruby rolled over onto her back and sighed.

“Yeah but she never takes it easy on me. I almost feel like she’s the one it’s hardest to impress.”

“It won’t be that bad Ruby. It’s just on the different types of dust useage and the dangers of improper mixing in round creation.” Yang looked over her shoulder as she worked the brush through a particularly stubborn section of hair.

“I guess…” Ruby trailed off, realizing that was something she could probably handle.

“Besides, when we finish we get to leave class so we get lunch early. We might even skip the lines.” Yang finally got the knot out and continued brushing her hair, turning back to the mirror. Ruby sprang off the bed with joy.

“That means fresh cookies!” she squealed with joy and did a happy little dance in the middle of the room. Weiss shook her head with a sigh and returned to her text. Blake stood and moved to the door.

“Come on Ruby, if we go now we can run through our notes so you can finish faster.” Blake grabbed her small book bag from it’s spot by the door and reached for the knob. Ruby nodded in agreement and scooped her bag from the ground by her bunk and followed Blake into the hallway.

“Has she always been like this?” Weiss lifted her eyes from studying and found Yang’s in the mirror.

“Oh yeah pretty much. All through Signal it was just like this, even when we lived in Patch with our Dad.” Yang set the brush down and shook her hair out behind her. It fell in cascading waves down her back, rolling off her shoulders and tumbling past her waistline. She smiled and stood with a flourish, “So what do you think? Do I look ready to meet Nora?”

“You may want to put on more than a bra and shorts.” Weiss snickered without looking up from her book. Yang huffed and blew a lock of hair off of her forehead, “I don’t think you two are quite there yet, are you?” Weiss giggled and looked up for the rare opportunity of seeing an embarrassed and flustered Yang Xiaolong, mumbling under her breath about of course she was gonna get dressed, can’t the princess just say she looks good, Oum was she frustrating. Weiss giggled again and returned to her studying. Yang quickly dug out her school uniform slipping on her skirt and regulation blouse. She sat down and started pulling on her long stockings when Weiss sat up and cleared her throat.

“I really wanted to apologize for last night Yang.” Yang looked up from her legs, Weiss was serious here. Her eyes held none of her mirth from earlier, “I was out of line, I shouldn’t have assumed you weren’t taking this seriously.” She set her book to the side and focused on the blonde.

“I get it. I’m not really serious about much. But, I wouldn’t play with someone’s emotions like that.” Yang finished pulling on her second sock and sat up, meeting the heiress’s gaze, “I really care about Nora Weiss, and I really wanna see if I can do more than that too. I need to see if what I’m feeling about her is real and if that’s who I am.” Weiss nodded her in confirmation and stood.

“I mean what I said last night, I’m here if you need me.” She tilted her head slightly to the side and gave Yang a warm smile. Yang quickly pulled on her flats and stood to meet the other girl.

“C’mon let’s get to class.” They made for the door and were more surprised than they should have been to find a certain redhead standing there waiting for them.

“Wow, you take like forever to get ready don’t you?” Nora giggled and she and Yang shared a quick hug.

“It takes time to look this great.” Yang whipped her hair out behind her and brought her shoulders back, pushing her already ample chest out further. Nora giggled again and moved to Yang’s side.

“Well that I certainly appreciate it.” She grabbed Yang’s hand and Yang blushed slightly but gripped her hand right back.

“Alright, and it’s a school day, and we’re going to class, and we’re all gonna be real mature about this and just act normal.” Weiss began rattling off to herself as she walked down the hallway, ignoring the freshly minted couple as best she could. Yang and Nora chuckled a little at their friend’s embarrassment and headed slowly down the hallway after her.

“So the rest of your team already head out?”

“Yeah, Pyrrha gets up at something like four am every single day and goes for a ‘jog’ around the entire school and then does laps in the pool. She always showers in the gym and just meets us at class.” Nora sounded tired just talking about the other girl’s insane workout regimen.

“Damn, that’s incredible. Every day?” Yang considered the prospect and realized she did not have the mental fortitude for a routine like that.

“It’s crazy right? She tries to be quiet when she leaves but she always wakes me up. I usually end up reading comics on my scroll until it’s actually time to get up..” Nora smiled and took the steps first, holding Yang’s hand up above her head so they would both fit on the narrow stairs and still be holding hands.

“You’ve been up since four? That’s not natural Nora.” Yang laughed and slid in front of Nora at the base of the stairs, pushing the door open for the two of them.

“Ehh, I’m used to it by now. I get through a lot more stuff that way.” Nora spun in front of Yang and skipped backwards, grabbing both of her hands with hers, swinging them back and forth between them. “What about the fearless Team RWBY? What’s your morning routine?” Yang grinned at Nora’s adorable antics.

“Well Weiss or Blake is always up first. They’re both really quiet though so it never wakes me. Then Ruby usually gets up after, but I think Weiss wakes her up because she never used to get up before me. I’m usually the last one awake but I take the longest shower so it kinda works out that way.”

“You’re just a big sleepy ursa aren’t you?” Nora let go with one hand and poked Yang on the forehead before falling back to her side and walking like a somewhat more normal person, “I like to sleep in too but I just wake up now because Pyrrha has me in this pattern.” Nora smiled and looked out around campus.

The school’s paths were much more crowded now than they had been the night before. Every student in Beacon was out at this time, making their way to their morning classes or getting in an early breakfast before their day started. Yang didn’t feel the same tension or prying eyes she had the night before and it relaxed her. In the crowd they were just another couple, happily starting their morning with each other. Yang felt a squeeze on her hand and turned to look at her happy partner.

“You worried about people?” Nora’s face was bright and cheery but her voice had an edge of worry to it.

“No, not really. Kind of I guess. But I don’t care. Like you said, they’re all just jealous I got you and they can’t.” Yang smiled and slid her arm around Nora’s shoulder, giving her a light hug and then letting her arm fall back to holding her hand. Nora smiled and leaned into the hug easily.

“Okay good. Not like anyone is gonna give us trouble though right?” Nora flexed her left arm where Yang could see it and Yang was more than happy with what she saw. Nora was a small girl, that was sure, but the bulge of muscle that pushed up from her arm showed that she worked hard. Yang squeezed Nora’s hand and let out a confident bark of a laugh.

“That’s right, and if they do, maybe you can break their legs.” A dangerous gleam entered Nora’s eyes at Yang’s suggestion and Yang grinned with pleasure.

“Oh definitely.” they both laughed and found themselves standing at their classroom door. Yang jumped forward with a flourish and grabbed the door for Nora. Nora giggled and stepped through with a wide smile on her face ”Oh why thank you.” Yang followed behind her and found the class mostly empty still. Some students were scattered around, but RWBY and JNPR were now the only two teams fully represented. Yang and Nora made their way down to their teams and took seats next to each other at the center of the eight person row.

“Hey, good morning Yang.” Jaune waved excitedly over his head at them as they sat, he was only a few feet away.

“Morning Jaune,” Yang gave him a happy smile and looked to the other two team members. Ren returned her smile and gave a slight nod of his head.

“Oh good morning.” Pyrrha gave a small wave. Nora leaned around Yang and waved to team RWBY.

“Morning Blake, morning Ruby.” Blake smiled politely and Ruby split into a grin.

“Oh, you two are so cute together.” She giggled and tried to hide it under her hand, “Nora are you ready for the test next period?” Nora smiled at Ruby’s compliment but immediately dropped to grave shock and concern at her second comment.

“What test?” Weiss shook her head and passed a binder of notes to Ruby over her shoulder. Yang laughed and took it from Ruby, passing it to her girlfriend.

“In Goodwitch’s class. It’s on Dust use and stuff.” Nora took the binder and opened it with a tab on the side. The pages were filled with a tight neat handwriting. Carefully measured notes with annotations and highlights. In several places there were little colored dots that matched the tabs jutting from the side.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t know about it either” Ruby laughed and pointed to the binder, “But Weiss’s notes are awesome, it’s like a mini textbook. Nora looked at the enormous binder before her.

“Mini?” They all laughed, “Thank you Weiss.” Nora leaned over and smiled at the stern girl at the end of the row.

“Just make sure you pass. I can’t let that lughead next to you drag another person down with her.” Yang crossed her arms in mock offense and blew a huff of air.

“I actually did study on my own, thank you very much.” Yang looked over to her partner, “Didn’t I Blake?”

“Oh yes, I think you sat down for a whole ten minutes with the text and then went to get lunch.” Weiss loosed a derisive laugh and Ruby smiled.

“That does sound like you sis’,” Yang shot Ruby an annoyed glare that immediately softened to an easy grin when a pair of lips met her cheek for a brief moment.

“You still studied more than me.” Yang smiled and grabbed Nora’s hand , running her thumb over the top gently. Nora smiled and looked down to Weiss’s notes. Professor Port entered the class down at the front and waved to the students, he looked about the class which was now a little over half full.

“Ahh Mondays. Well, their loss. Today I’m going to tell you about a brave young man who saved an entire village from destruction by a flock of Nevermores. He fought with a simple weapon, an ax that…”

  
Yang began to tune out the Professor as he went into another tale of his own exploits, not so cleverly disguised as a history lecture. He usually made a point by the end of it but the story was mostly unimportant. She looked down at the notes Nora was studying, trying to at least refresh a little before the test. She felt a gentle squeeze on her hand and Nora scooted the notebook over a little so Yang could read better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone liked the little team interactions here. I know JNPR was probably an interesting room that night as well, but this story is all gonna be from Yang's perspective so we'll just have to see if Nora tells her about it or not.


	7. The Little Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're what really matter, aren't they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang walked into the gym ready for some serious work. It had been three days since Yang met Nora in the library and she had enjoyed every minute of it so far. Nora was fun and crazy and as full of energy as ever, so much so that Yang found even she had trouble keeping up with her sometimes. But, it was never a struggle, it never wore on her nerves like Ruby sometimes did because Nora was also incredibly sweet and caring in little ways Yang had never even thought of. Every morning since they started dating Nora had met Yang in the hallway, waiting and ready to go. She said it was because Pyrrha always woke her up so early but Yang wasn’t going to complain. Getting to see that wonderful girl’s face right away every day and saying bye again in the hallway every night meant they were able to spend nearly all of their time together. Nora was also extremely affectionate in ways that Yang really appreciated. She wanted to hold hands wherever they went, always had praise for Yang and every once and while, only twice since the time at the bar, she would plant these little kisses on Yang’s cheek that just made her go silly. She couldn’t quite explain it, but she always grew this stupid grin and forget what she was saying, even if she was mid-sentence.

So, when Yang entered the gym and saw her red-headed little girlfriend already in her adorable pink and white gym attire, ready to lift, she couldn’t help but smile like an idiot.

“You look ready to go.” Yang smiled and gave Nora a firm hug.

“You don’t. Hurry up slowpoke, it’s time to lift.” Nora flexed both arms impressively and Yang felt a bit of pride that her girlfriend was as concerned with her musculature as she was.

“Alright, alright I’m going. Don’t start without me though.” Yang gave Nora a playful shove on the shoulder with her free hand and trotted off for the locker rooms to change into her gym clothes. She reached the locker and stripped down to her bra and panties quickly tucking away her school clothes and removing her sports bra and gym shirt and shorts from her bag. She unclipped her bra and threw it down into her bag before slipping her sports bra on and then took a half second to look around as she fixed the bottom hem, making sure it was laying flat against her skin. There were other girls in the locker room changing as well, though most of them seemed to be moving at a much more leisurely pace than Yang. There were quite a few cute girls at Beacon, everyone was fit and most had a very unique style to their hair or dress. As Yang glanced around though, she didn’t feel really attracted to any of the girls. Of course she wasn’t staring and didn’t even let her eyes linger on anyone in particular but still, not a single pang of desire.

She threw on her bright yellow shorts, little yellow and black sneakers and slipped on her black top which had a bright yellow stripe running down the sides. She grabbed her lifting gloves and tossed the rest of her things in the locker. Fitting the fingerless leather gloves as she exited the locker room making sure the straps were tight, she couldn’t risk a glove slipping in front of Nora their first time at the gym together. She came back out into the weight room and saw Nora in the corner, stretching one arm back over her shoulder, pushing on the elbow with her other hand to lengthen the stretch. Her body was on full display like that, arms up above her bright red hair, chest pushed forward by the stretch, long white legs slipping out of her little pink shorts and ending into a bright white pair of athletic sneakers. Yang forcibly closed her mouth and shook her head to stop from staring. She walked quickly across the room to where Nora stood, wanting to hurry over but also not wanting to run in the weight room or appear too eager to Nora.

“Alright, I’m all ready. Let’s do this.” Nora turned at Yang’s voice and smiled.

“Ooohh, we may have to come to the gym together more often. You look great.” Nora put her hands on her hips and shamelessly gave Yang a once over. Yang struck a pose for her and whipped her hair behind her, making sure Nora could take it all in.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” Yang smiled deviously and Nora giggled.

“I told you we were the hot ones.” Yang laughed and pulled one arm in front of her, pulling on her wrist to stretch her upper arms before they started.

“So what are we doing today? Just please don’t say it’s legs, I just did legs yesterday we both know you’ll kick my ass at legs.” Nora grinned and Yang laughed and switched arms, Nora turned and looked around the gym for a moment.

“Uhhh, what day is it?”

“Wednesday.”

“Oh well then it’s chest and back. Legs are Tuesday, Thursday for me.” Yang grinned, their routines already matched. This was gonna be great.

“Awesome, that’s the same as me.” Yang released her arm and swung them both back and forth in front of her, crossing them in front of her chest. Nora walked over and grabbed a set of dumbbells, easily wrenching them from their holders by the wall and bringing them over to a bench near Yang. She then went back over and grabbed the next size up of dumbbells and deposited them by the first set. Yang replicated the stretch Nora had been doing when she walked out and made her way over to her, arms pushed high above her head and arching down to her back. Nora looked up from setting the weights down and caught Yang mid-stretch.

“Okay, you’re gonna have to put that,” Nora waved her hands in Yang’s general direction, “away. How am I supposed to focus?” Yang grinned and lifted the larger pair of dumbbells.

“Maybe you’ll just have to close your eyes.” Yang lifted both dumbbells in front of her, arms straight out and then slowly pulled them to the sides until she looked like a giant ‘t’ and then pushed her arms back together. She didn’t wait for any sort of reply from Nora but just started in on her reps, focusing on her form and doing her best to ignore the girl doing the same by her side.

They worked through the exercises, taking advantage of the impressive array of weights and machines that Beacon had to offer. The students here were all capable of lifting incredible amounts, even those that didn’t focus on lifting like the rest of Team RWBY were far stronger than the average human just because of their aura and the strength needed to wield their weapons effectively. But Yang and Nora were bodybuilders among super humans and throughout their workout routinely lifted hundreds of pounds and could each bench the equivalent of a small car. Yang stood over Nora and spotted her as the redhead finished out a set on the bench. Nora lifted the final rep and dropped the bar into its slots on the bench with a resounding clang. She sat up and wiped at her brow with a sweat rag and then reached for her water bottle.

“Alright, my turn.” Yang swung around the front of the bench and sat next to Nora, giving her a second to rest before they switched. Nora leaned over and rested her head on Yang’s shoulder and sighed.

“I’m so hungry.” Yang laughed and put a hand around the girl’s waist, “No really, can we go eat right after this?”

“Sure, I heard the cafeteria has pork roast tonight.” Nora’s eyes lit up and she lurched to her feet.

“Let’s power through our last couple sets and get over there then.” She hurried behind the bar to spot her girlfriend and waited for Yang to lie back then snickered.

“What? I’m hurrying.” Yang looked up at Nora’s grinning face, seeing her upside down.

“I can see down your shirt from here.” Nora giggled and stuck out her tongue. Yang blushed and looked down to see that, due to her large chest and the tight fitting workout shirt, Nora could indeed see down her shirt. Although all it gave her a view of was Yang’s sport’s bra it still flustered her slightly. Yang blushed and put her hands on the bar.

“Come on, stop oggling me or we can’t work out together anymore.” Yang’s voice was playful and Nora stifled a final giggle so she could help Yang lift the first rep off the rack. Yang fell into an easy rhythm for the set and had pumped them out before long. The effort worked up a slight sweat but nothing out of the ordinary. She racked the final lift and sat up with a small pant.

“Wooo,” Nora cheered, “Only two left and then it’s pork roast time. Yang grabbed her sweat rag and both of their water bottles, handing Nora’s to her as she stood. They made their way to their next set of exercises and continued much the same process. Yang did her best to not further expose herself to Nora, but didn’t let it interfere with her workout. They were here to exercise and that came first. Judging by Nora’s physique she obviously put as much importance behind the routine as Yang did so she had no doubt she could contain herself. They worked through the rest of their planned workout and reached the final set without much else happening. 

Nora was kneeling, pulling a kettlebell, which weighed two hundred pounds, up and behind herself like she was trying to start Remnant’s worst lawnmower. Yang was watching her, making sure she stayed in form and doing her best not to make her stares overly obvious. Nora really was incredibly fit and it showed in her every movement. 

Yang lifted her eyes from her girlfriend for a second and glanced around the room at the others exercising. Most people kept to themselves in the gym, it was something they all did and most people were here to get it over with and get onto other things. Yang saw several other pairs or small groups such as herself and Nora but it was a lone exerciser in particular that caught her eye. Cardin Winchester was doing squats on the far side of the room and was watching Yang and Nora intently. Yang realized he was staring and glared at him across the gym, he jerked his head down and stared at the ground several feet in front of him and kept going with his exercise. Yang sighed.

There was a loud thunk and Yang felt a hand on her leg. She looked down and found Nora had finished her reps and was trying to get her attention, waving her hand for Yang to come closer. Yang crouched down, putting herself much closer to the little redhead.

“Don’t let him bother you. Cardin’s just a creep.” Nora lifted herself to a crouch and put a hand on Yang’s knee.

“Yeah I know. Doesn’t mean I don’t hate the guy’s guts.” Yang smiled and Nora snickered.

“He tries to mess with us though and he’ll learn his lesson.” Nora grinned devilishly and Yang remembered her threat when Cardin had been bullying Jaune.

“Now, now. We probably shouldn’t break his legs Nora.” Nora’s face fell and she turned puppy dog eyes on Yang, “Unless he really deserves it.” They both laughed and Yang went to one knee to finish her workout with the kettlebell. After she was done, she and Nora racked their weights and headed for the locker room.

They went straight to their lockers, on opposite sides of an aisle from each other and went about changing.

“You wanna grab a shower first or just head straight to dinner?” Yang threw the question over her shoulder without turning to regard her girlfriend who was most likely mostly naked right now. It was just the locker room, Yang knew that, but still it seemed like there should be some barriers between the two until they willingly broke them down.

“Let’s just grab dinner. We didn’t do any cardio so it should be okay.” Yang smiled, happy to know that a little sweat didn’t bother her. She was pretty sure going into this that she had a good grip on Nora’s personality, her general likes and dislikes. But, every time one that she preferred was confirmed it made her happy. Not to know she was right, but to know that it was another thing she and Nora wouldn’t have to argue or disagree about. They finished changing and raced over to the cafeteria. On the way out Yang looked around but saw that Cardin was no longer in the gym. Where he was, she didn’t really care, as long as she didn’t have to deal with him.

They reached the cafeteria hand in hand and Yang opened the door for Nora. Nora smiled for Yang and they entered together. The couple made their way to the long line of food, all spread out in separate steamer trays or under warming lamps. Nora immediately spied the hulking pork roasts near the end of the aisle. She grabbed trays for herself and Yang and looked to her girlfriend, hunger burning in her eyes.

“Oh my Oum. Yang it looks delicious!” Nora almost ran to the end of the row and began heaping the roast onto her plate in huge clumps. Yang laughed and made her way down the row, she grabbed a pile of rolls for them both, a small loaf of bread which was probably meant to be cut and then spied steamed asparagus. Yang smiled and grabbed two separate helpings of the green stalks then slid her tray down to where Nora was finishing loading her plate with pork.

“You think you have enough there?” Nora turned on Yang and looked at her tray. She saw the asparagus and sighed a little, her shoulders dropping. Yang chuckled and put one of the serving of vegetables onto Nora’s tray and then began taking her own hunks of the roast. She looked up and saw that Nora was still forlornly locked on her asparagus. She smiled, “Here Nora. Come here.” Yang grabbed Nora by the hand and drug her back towards the vegetables. They reached the large array of deep greens and bright reds and yellows and Nora looked around at what was there, nothing looked better than what she already had. Yang reached down and picked up a ladle of liquified cheese, drizzling a modest amount onto Nora’s asparagus. Nora looked up and smiled at Yang. “Ren said you had to eat your veggies right? He didn't say you couldn't put anything on them.” Yang smiled and applied some cheese to her asparagus as well.

“Yeah that's right.” Nora happily picked up her tray and turned, scanning the cafeteria for any friends who might still be here eating. She spotted Blake and pointed her out to Yang, they both headed off towards Yang’s partner.

Blake lifted her head as the two approached and tucked the book she had been reading away. They sat down and Blake twitched her nose ever so slightly.

“Oh sorry Blake, we just left the gym.” Yang apologized to her overly scent sensitive Faunus friend and seated herself across from her. Nora plopped down beside Yang and waved to Blake.

“Yeah sorry. She had me all hot and bothered the whole time, made me sweat way more than usual.” Blake nearly choked on her food and Nora laughed. Yang stuttered and tried to find a response but had none. Nora looked back and forth between the two of them, “What? It's true, your gym clothes should not be allowed.” 

“You're one to talk. How long were those shorts? A whole inch maybe?” Yang found her voice and couldn't help but poke fun back.

“Well my legs aren't miles long like some people.” Nora stuck her tongue out at Yang. Yang smiled and then had a realization and turned to Blake.

“Sorry Blake, you know how the gym makes me.” Blake sighed and shook her head.

“I'm not much better.” Nora gave Blake a winning smile and then immediately began eating.

“So what's up?” Yang began eating but slowly enough that she could respond to Blake.

“Well I was quite enjoying my book,” she motioned gently to the novel tucked neatly beside her tray.

“Oh yeah is it a good one?” Blake went to respond to her partner but was cut off.

“There's no pictures are there?” Nora swallowed quickly and blurted out.

“No. There aren't any pictures.” Blake set a hand on her novel. “This is an introspective on the Faunus condition immediately after the events of the Great War and leading up to the start of the Faunus Rights Revolution as told through a young Faunus boy living in Mistral.” Yang coughed a little and Nora was so overwhelmed by the information that she had stopped eating.

“Wow that's so cool. Are you really into Faunus history?” Nora began eating again and waited for Blake’s response.

“Yes, I find the Faunus struggle very…” she paused in thought, “interesting. We should all know more about it.” Nora nodded her head in agreement.

“I still wish it had pictures though.” Nora smiled and went back to eating when Blake didn't immediately respond. For a moment they sat in silence and ate until Nora spoke up again.

“So Blake, you got your eye on anybody?” Nora wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at her and Blake’s face remained calm.

“Not at the moment, no. I am rather focused on my training.” Blake took an overly large bite of her tuna sandwich.

“Oh come on. There's gotta be someone right?” Nora put her finger to her chin and tapped thoughtfully. Then she jumped with excitement, “Oh are you still pining after that Faunus boy from Mistral?” Blake quickly swallowed her bite, choking a bit.

“Nope, no, definitely not.” Nora giggled and Yang started with a shock.

“Really Blake? Sun?” Blake looked at the floor and tried unsuccessfully to hide her face.

“Be nice Yang. Sun is super cute isn't he?” Nora looked back at Blake, trying to get her a little further out of her shell. Blake didn't react, she kept her eyes down and took another bite of her sandwich, trying to hide her embarrassment. “You two went to the dance together didn't you? I can't believe you got him in a tie.” Nora laughed and Blake allowed the faintest hint of a smile to tug at the corners of her lips

“I thought that was because I made you go?” Yang had set her fork to the side by now, engrossed as she was by this turn of events. Blake shook her head almost imperceptibly.

“Are you kidding Yang? C’mon you saw his abs! I mean he never closed his shirt.” Nora laughed again and Blake’s blush deepened. “What about that tail though? It was kinda cool wasn't it?” Blake jerked her head up. “I didn't know you had a thing for Faunus guys.” Blake grabbed her book and went running off. 

“No Blake, I’m-” Nora was shocked at her departure and almost stood to go after her but Yang put a hand on hers.

“Don't Nora.” Nora turned to Yang, concern on her face.

“Oh Yang I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I was just playing.” Yang gripped her hand and squeezed a little, comfortingly.

“It's okay, she's just really shy. I mean, I'm her partner and I didn't even realize she had a crush on Sun,” the tension on Nora’s face didn't ease, “Really it's okay. I'll talk to her tonight.”

“Should I apologize to her?”

“No, I think it will be okay. Maybe just say sorry when you see her in the morning. But really don't make a big deal out of it, that might make it worse. Like I said she's really closed off about stuff.” Yang had a sudden idea and decided to go for it, she leaned over quickly and gave Nora a quick kiss on the cheek. Nora’s face flushed and she stammered slightly.

“Oh, okay, thanks.” Nora squeezed Yang’s hand and turned back to her meal, “Let's eat, yeah?”

  
“Yeah,” Yang smiled at the effect she had had and turned back to her food, keeping her hand entwined with Nora’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first few chapters followed basically every moment of time, but starting with this chapter there will be slight jumps. Never more than two or three days at a time. But, now that they are together it won't be as condensed and the story will jump to salient moments in the relationship with lots of pleasing fluff in between. I will always establish in the story roughly how long it's been though. Last week, this weekend, on Tuesday, terms like that and I will also try and keep a constant reminder of how long they've been dating via anniversaries, months passing, school events and things.
> 
> I hope you're enjoying the read.
> 
> -Zach


	8. Knightly Struggles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Nora talk with Team JNPR's leader about his own lady troubles, but, he doesn't even know it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang shifted her weight slightly on the bed, unintentionally pushing Nora away and immediately tried to correct her movement by pulling the redhead closer to her. Nora hummed with contentment and snuggled her head deeper into Yang’s shoulder. Yang smiled and stroked her shoulder, letting her thumb run little circles on the other girl’s firm forearm, it felt so good under her hand in a way she had never expected another girl to. She crossed one leg up over her knee and blew a lock of hair out of her eye so she could see the projection a little clearer. 

The rooms at Beacon didn’t exactly have large screens or any place to put them that really worked so they were forced to improvise when Nora said a movie night sounded like fun. Pyrrha and Jaune went out every night to train together for hours at a time, so nights in the JNPR dorm tended to just be Ren and Nora. Nora had asked Ren to give her and Yang a little alone time and he had happily obliged, saying that it would be peaceful to walk under the stars and meditate on the grounds late at night when he would not be bothered. Yang knew the boy was the quiet stoic type and was no doubt enjoying his evening alone, but also reminded herself to thank him for giving them this opportunity to have alone time. 

Team RWBY seemed to live in their dorm room when they weren’t training. Sure occasionally Weiss or Blake would step out to the library for their studying or Ruby would drag one or more of them away on some adventure, but the room was never really empty enough for them to have an evening like this. Plus, the whole bunk bed idea, while giving them ample floor space, had actually limited the visible wall space. Nora and Yang’s screen solution turned out to be a small projector which they propped on a pile of books and let throw their film onto the opposite wall, above Jaune’s bed.

They had chosen a comedy to watch tonight. They both liked action films well enough and neither one wanted to watch a romance together right now. Nora had suggested something that would be special for them and Yang immediately knew what to do. Their teammates were all far more reserved than them with the only possible exception being Ruby, so Yang thought this was the perfect chance for a little crude, pointless humor that only they would enjoy. The film was about a cop in Vale who has to break up a drug ring dealing psychedelics but ends up being dosed and spends the majority of the movie suffering a days long hallucination and trying to still complete his mission as well as he can. It was perfect for them.

Nora giggled as the cop desperately tried to navigate his car through a crowd of six foot tall penguins, believing he was pursuing a runaway dealer. There was a knock at the door and Yang grabbed her scroll, pausing the movie. Nora sat up slightly, putting herself in a more dignified position but did not scoot away from Yang at all. Yang smiled, happy that Nora was that comfortable about their relationship and moved her arm over her girlfriend’s waist to her shoulder. The knock came again, louder and more rapidly this time. Nora called out.

“It’s open” she hollered at the still closed door.

“Uhh can I come in?” the familiar, unsteady voice of Team JNPR’s leader came through the heavy wood.

“Yeah Jaune come on.” Yang laughed and smiled at Nora, amused by Jaune’s behavior.

“Okay, okay I’m comin’ in.” the door slowly creaked open and Jaune inched through, one hand firmly over his eyes and the other flung out in front of him defensively. He waded his way into the room like he was approaching a hive of angry rapier wasps. Yang and Nora laughed uneasily.

“Jaune…? Whatcha’ doin’?” Jaune relaxed a little and slid his fingers apart, peeking through the gaps at the couple cuddled together on the bed, fully clothed and on top of the covers. Jaune saw this and breathed a heavy sigh of relief, dropping his hands and letting himself relax.

“Oh, you know, nothing. Just trying to avoid getting beaten to little tiny pieces by the two of you. Just in case you were, you know…. well you were alone in the room and all.” Jaune stammered uneasily and fell silent, letting his gaze fall forlornly to the floor. Nora threw a pillow directly at the blonde boy, nailing him the head and causing him to stumble backwards.

“Jaune Arc!” she screamed playfully, “We would not be-” she cut herself short and looked at Yang who was trying her best to repress a giggle. Nora lost it and began laughing herself.

“Jaune come on. Really?” Yang squeezed Nora as they both regained their composure.

“Well I don’t know. I mean look at you two.” Jaune flung his hand up towards the two of them helplessly, “Who wouldn’t expect that from you?”

“We’ve barely been dating for a week.” Nora looked at Yang, less humor on her face than before, “We haven’t even kissed yet.” Yang rubbed the back of her head, a little uncomfortably.

“Yeah, we’re takin’ it slow. Unlike most things we do.” Yang let a smile back on to her face and Jaune let out an easy chuckle. He stepped to the end of his bed and jumped when he saw the wall.

“Whoa!” He turned slowly back to the couple on the bed, “Uhh, hey… what’s that?” he pointed at the frozen image of a penguin jutting from the windshield of a police cruiser being projected on the wall. The penguin had been flailing about, desperately trying to get the driver to swerve off course.

“Oh that? That’s a drug dealer’s lackey trying to stop the cop from catching their shipment truck.” Yang smiled and watched Jaune, waiting for his reaction.

“That’s,” he paused again, searching for a response, “That’s interesting.” He turned back to the two, trying his best to smile convincingly. They broke out in laughter again.

“So where’s Pyrrha?” Nora stretched her arms and legs out into the air, letting her arm fall easily into Yang’s lap.

“Yeah is she having trouble walking after your ‘exercise’?” Yang put air quotes around the word ‘exercise’ and Nora stifled a laugh, pushing playfully at Yang’s shoulder. Jaune turned in confusion.

“What? No.” he laughed, “If anything I’m a little sore.” he rubbed the back of his left leg gingerly, “She really gave me a pounding tonight.” He pulled his hoodie off and collapsed on his bed, feet hanging off the edge. Nora and Yang both laughed but did their best to control themselves.

“So have you two been going at it a lot lately?” Nora leaned in, anticipating another misinterpretation from her leader.

“Oh yeah, every night with her. It’s like she never gets tired. She’s still at it all on her own.” Jaune forced himself to sit up and started removing his shoes.

“Wow Jaune. You’re not giving her everything she needs.” Yang grabbed Nora’s hand and squeezed as they waited, wondering how far they could take it before he picked up on their real meaning.

“I do my best. I just get so tired, there’s no way I can last as long as her.” Jaune got his second shoe off and turned on the two, seeing them laughing now, “What? Oh come on guys.” the two finally sobered, certain that he was on to their teasing, “Think about all the practice she’s had. How am I supposed to keep up?” Nora and Yang both collapsed back into laughter.

“Jaune,” Nora gasped out between laughs, “How could you say that about her? I thought you liked Pyrrha?”

“That doesn’t mean I’m any better at sparring her.” Jaune let out an exasperated sigh.

“Oh.” Yang put a hand to her forehead in mock shock, “Oh we’re talking about sparring.” Nora turned on her.

“Really? Oh that’s completely different.” she looked back to Jaune, “You should have said so.” Jaune looked back and forth between the pair, trying to size up their intentions and finally gave up with a resigned sigh.

“I’m gonna take a shower. I’m all gross and sticky. You two stay out here.” he shot them a quizzical glance and then retreated to the bathroom. Yang and Nora both collapsed in laughter again.

“Oh my Oum, that was better than the movie.” Nora leaned her head back onto Yang.

“Is he really that dense? Like, all the time?” Yang pulled the redhead closer and smiled as she nuzzled in.

“Oh yeah. I just never get to mess with him like that because Ren stops me.” Nora huffed in a small pout.

“What a party pooper.” Yang laughed.

“He’s just looking out for Jaune. He doesn’t want me to be mean.” Yang caught herself and lightened her tone.

“Oh yeah, that I get. But, he can take a little teasing now and then.” Nora chuckled in agreement.

“Wanna get back to the movie?” Nora asked without moving from her extremely comfortable spot.

“I don’t know. It’s not quite as funny as I thought it would be.” Yang reached for her scroll to start the film again. Even if it wasn’t the best story, it was the whole point of the evening.

“Yeah, you’re right. We could just make-out instead. Really get Jaune when he comes out of the shower.” Nora laughed but Yang stiffened a little and didn’t respond. Nora’s laughter faded and the silence reached her ears. “I’m kidding Yang.” she sat up and faced the blonde, “Really, it was just a joke.” Yang forced a smile.

“Nora, does it bug you? How slow we’re moving I mean.” Nora grabbed Yang’s hands tenderly and stared into her eyes.

“Are you kidding? This is the most fun I’ve had since I got to Beacon and a long time before that.” she leaned in and hugged Yang, “I’m fine with us just the way we are, right here.” Yang relaxed and returned the hug. Nora buried her head in the masses of blonde hair falling around Yang’s shoulders, rubbing her forehead against her girlfriend’s neck gently.

“I really do like you Nora.” Nora pulled her head up and locked eyes with Yang again.

“I really like you too Yang.” Yang smiled and grabbed Nora around the waist. She lifted her easily with one arm and swung her into her lap. Nora giggled and wrapped her arms around Yang’s neck, landing lightly on her legs.

“So if we aren’t gonna watch the movie. Then what are we gonna do?” Yang hugged the girl close to her, amazed at how little she weighed.

“Well we could keep messing with Jaune.” Nora twisted so she could face Yang.

“What do you wanna do? We could get a glass of ice water and throw it on him in the shower.” Yang hoped Nora would think her plan was devious enough. Nora jumped at the idea, she released Yang’s neck and turned quickly, putting a leg on either side of Yang’s outstretched ones, effectively straddling her.

“Oh that sounds fantastic.” Nora leaned forward and gave Yang a quick kiss on the cheek, causing her to smile like a fool, the way she always did when Nora kissed her. Yang was lost in the redhead’s eyes and didn’t hear the bathroom door click open.

“Hey Nora have you seen my---” Jaune had emerged from the bathroom, pants still on put not wearing a shirt, he was carrying a small shower luffa which he promptly threw at the ceiling in fear, “Ahhh! I’m sorry. Don’t kill me please.” the door slammed shut and Jaune was hidden from sight. They could still hear his rushed apologies coming from the bathroom. They both fell on each other, bellowing laughter that would certainly merit noise complaints from their neighbors.

“Nevermind, that was perfect!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a pretty short one too, sorry about that. I begin setting up things here that will matter later on and also get to have a little fun with Jaune. I love the guy, but he's pretty thick isn't he? Oh well, he'll catch on eventually...hopefully.
> 
> Thanks for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	9. Date Night Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Nora finally find the time to slip away for a real date, just the two of them, outside of school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang revved the engine as she waited for the light to change at the intersection. It stayed red and she put her other foot on the ground to balance the heavy bike, they might be here for a moment. She closed her eyes and rolled her head to one side cracking her neck, impatient to get where she was going. She felt a squeeze around her waist from the equally impatient redhead behind her and jolted her eyes open, the light was green.

She sighed internally, of course it had changed the moment she closed her eyes. She kicked off and let the engine carry them forward, toward their date. Since that night at the bar together Yang and Nora had not gone back out as a couple. They had spent lots of time together over the last week, walking to and from classes, working out together, plenty of time with their teams and after training in the dorms. But, this would be their first real date as a couple and Yang was more than a little nervous. 

She slowed as they approached a turn, taking it easier than usual due to the denser weekend traffic in this part of town. The ride down from Beacon had been exhilarating but the traffic in Vale was agonizing. It had been Nora’s idea to move the bike up to Beacon and not keep it by the airbus landing pad and Yang admitted it was nice to have it closer by. She had flown down to town and driven it back up, keeping it along with some other vehicles that students on campus had. Usually first years weren't permitted to keep vehicles on campus but, a message to Ozpin had gotten her a waiver. Now that they had the bike at the school, they could head to and from Vale whenever they wanted and their schedules permitted.

Nora rested her helmeted head on Yang’s back and slid her arms further around the blonde’s waist. Riding the bike together was something Yang knew she would enjoy every time they did it, how else would she find an excuse to have Nora hold her like this for this long. They had been taking their relationship one step at a time, Yang was new to being with a girl and still not totally comfortable with everything that entailed, Nora was respectful of Yang’s hesitancy and wasn’t charging in herself. Yang knew that the usually impulsive girl was really cautious when it came to relationships, Ren had told her as much, and so she understood that Nora didn’t want to commit too much and then have Yang decide this wasn’t for her. For now though, they were doing great and Yang loved the feel of Nora’s strong arms wrapped around her waist.

They reached the little diner and Yang swung the bike into an empty space near the entrance. She idled the engine for a moment and then cut it off, giving Nora a chance to dismount behind her before swinging her leg off the bike and extending the kickstand. Nora stretched her arms while Yang stowed their helmets in the bike’s interior. She extended a hand to Nora once she was done and they headed into the small restaurant, hand in hand.

“Good Evening, how many?” the girl behind the counter had short, brown hair and large, bright eyes. The place was small and rather empty, neither Yang nor her girlfriend had thought to make a reservation at the diner but, it looked like they wouldn’t need one.

“Just two.” Nora held up her first two fingers like an imitation of Velvet’s ears and smiled.

“Okay, if you’ll follow me to your table.” the hostess grabbed two menus from the slot on the side of her podium and guided the couple back to a small table near the windows facing the street. She set down their menus and Yang thanked her before pulling out Nora’s chair. Nora took her seat, flipping the back of her skirt demurely forward as she sat.

“Why thank you.” Yang smiled in response and took her seat, leaning back comfortably in her chair. The small, unassuming venue was definitely helping her feel less nervous. Yang loved dressing up and getting fancy, like at the dance, but was far more relaxed in this homey setting.

“So why this place?” Yang picked up the menu and looked around the establishment then glanced at the front page. It seemed they specialized in breakfast and had an intense focus on large helpings of food and letting the customer pick exactly what they got to eat, at least she knew she’d enjoy the meal.

“Duh, can’t you tell?” Nora opened the menu to the middle and showed Yang an insert, clinging to the inside spine. ‘All You Can Eat Pancakes’ it said, “They have like the best pancakes in Vale. It’s the first place I came to eat when I got to Beacon.” Nora shut her menu triumphantly and looked at Yang as if that settled the matter and they would eat nowhere else, ever. Yang laughed.

“I’m gonna tell Ren you said their pancakes are better than his.” She looked down to her menu, trying to hide her smirk. Nora gasped.

“You wouldn’t. I meant they were the best restaurant pancakes.” Nora crossed her arms indignantly, “Nobody’s pancakes are better than Ren’s.” Yang dropped the menu back down and met Nora’s haughty gaze.

“You haven’t had mine yet,” she smiled, “I got a lot of practice cooking for Ruby while we were growing up. I’ll just put less chocolate chips in yours.” Nora giggled and the waitress returned with two glasses of water.

“Can I get you started with something to drink?” she looked back and forth between the couple.

“I’ll take a large strawberry shake.” Nora smiled enthusiastically.

“Can I have a coffee?” Yang looked up from her menu, the waitress nodded and jotted their orders down.

“Alright, I’ll be back in just a minute to take your orders.” Yang dropped her eyes back to the menu and the waitress went to pocket her receipt tab but Nora caught her attention.

“Actually we’re ready. Two ‘All You Can Eat Pancakes’ please. My first plate is gonna be strawberry.” Yang looked back up from her menu at Nora this time in confusion and then just let out a light sigh and shook her head. 

“I’ll have blueberries.” Yang grabbed Nora’s menu from the table and handed them both to the waitress. She smiled and accepted the menus.

“Thanks. I’ll put that in and have your drinks right out.” with that she turned and headed back for the kitchen. Yang folded her hands on the table and looked across them at a smiling redhead who was extremely proud of herself.

“What?” she held a hand up to her mouth in amused shock, “If you don’t like pancakes, then I just don’t think this is gonna work.” she giggled behind her hand and Yang smiled. She stretched a hand forward and Nora dropped hers to meet it.

“Well if that’s the deal, then I can eat pancakes every day.” The two girls both laughed.

“I just had to have you try them. Like I said, they’re the best in Vale.”

“I trust you, I do. I just hope when they say ‘All You Can Eat’ they understand that I take that as a challenge.” Yang smiled and looked over to the kitchen where the line cook was just getting their order, he looked like a worthy opponent.

“They can keep up, don’t worry.” Nora smiled and squeezed Yang’s hand.

“So you came here right when you got to Beacon?” Yang looked back to her smiling girlfriend.

“Oh yeah. Ren and I were looking for some food and it was still technically summer break for Beacon so the kitchens weren’t quite up and running yet, plus we were only first year students and didn’t even have dorms yet. We were like a week early for classes. We came here a lot.” Nora smiled on the memory.

“Oh wow, you guys stayed at a hotel or what?” Yang didn’t realize anyone had gotten here before the first day of school. She and Ruby had been in town with their Dad but just to see the city and explore before Yang started at the academy. It was during their visit that Ruby was attacked by Torchwick and his goons and earned her early entrance to Beacon.

“No, we didn’t have to. Ozpin wouldn’t break his whole team building arrangement thing and so we couldn’t have dorms. But, he let us stay in the same room we all stayed on the first night.” Yang thought back and remembered the giant room, it was big and open and they had all slept in sleeping bags on the floor for their first night at Beacon. She couldn’t believe Nora had spent a week like that just because she and Ren got to school early.

“That must have been rough.” Yang traced her thumb along the edge of Nora’s pinky where their hands lay on each other in the center of the table.

“It was actually really fun. Like a crazy weird inside camping trip.” Nora smiled and Yang chuckled, she could take even the most out of place situation and make it something fun. The waitress came back carrying their drinks. A steaming hot mug of coffee and two other cups, one glass full of pink shake and another metal one full of even more pink shake. Nora’s small smile split into a wide grin as the waitress set her drink down. Yang accepted her coffee happily.

“Thank you.” Nora gave the waitress a taste of her giant smile and immediately began drinking the shake, inhaling it through the straw. Yang nodded her thanks at the waitress and grabbed her coffee with both hands, feeling the warmth radiate into her hands. 

“I’ll have your pancakes out in just a minute.” she gave the couple a polite smile and moved on to another table.

“I never thought I’d meet somebody who eats as many sweets as Ruby.” Yang smiled at the familiar sight of someone with brainfreeze from drinking their shake too fast.

“Yeah well, your sister just knows how to live.” Nora smiled and dove back in for more, obviously ignoring the dull freezing sensation in her skull. Yang smiled and took a sip of her coffee, the dark hot liquid felt pleasant despite the warm weather. Yang never had issues being too hot. 

“So,” Nora popped her mouth off the straw with a satisfied gasp, “How are you feeling after a whole week together? I mean about your choice and everything.” Nora was still smiling and jovial but there was a steel behind her eyes that let Yang know she took the question very seriously.

“I couldn’t be happier.” Yang grinned from ear to ear. She really couldn’t be, her week with Nora so far had been fantastic. She relished every moment they spent together and found herself missing the girl in her short absences. The more that happened between them, the more comfortable Yang was with everything. She had never even considered being with a girl before Nora, but now that she was here she couldn’t understand why. “I’m having a great time with you.” Nora smiled.

“Good, because I like you way too much to let you get away now.” Nora reached over and put a hand over Yang’s on the side of her coffee cup. Yang blushed and looked down into her drink, “Now, you have to try some of this.” Nora retracted her hand and pushed her shake out to Yang. She grabbed the metal cup and topped of the glass with some of the extra. Yang laughed and took a sip. It was sweet with a strong strawberry flavor. Nora had gotten a strawberry shake and strawberry pancakes, strawberries were obviously something to remember, she made a mental note. The cool icecream in her mouth helped calm the raging heat that had rushed to her cheeks and Yang smiled as she released the straw.

“Oh wow. That’s really good.” Yang slid the shake back to the middle of the table, not all the way back to Nora though, she really had liked it and was hoping to steal another sip. The waitress returned carrying a large tray with two plates stacked high with pancakes. Nora’s eyes went from the caring humor she had for Yang to an intense, flaming hunger at the sight of her vice. The waitress set the plates down and smiled.

“You,” Nora locked her eyes on the waitress, “You are such a good person.” The waitress laughed as Nora dug into the pancakes, cutting and chewing simultaneously to power through them. Yang laughed and thanked the waitress as well before digging in herself.

The girls tore into the pancakes with a vigor few could match. Nora was right, these pancakes, while not the first thing Yang thought of for a late night romantic date, were outright delicious. The batter was light and fluffy, the dough slightly sweet and the blueberries were so fresh they were still crisp and rich even after being baked into the pancakes. Yang glanced up from her plate and saw Nora as happy as could be, a bit of pancake and strawberry goo on her cheek beside her mouth and a light in her eyes Yang hadn’t seen since she got the chance to spar Cardin in Goodwitch’s class. Yang smiled at the wild abandon with which Nora attacked the pancakes. She grabbed the cloth napkin from her lap and reached across the table to gingerly wipe the bit of sticky food from Nora’s face. Nora paused in her eating to watch Yang and let her wipe at her mouth. After she swept away the last bit of food Yang let her hand linger for but a moment and Nora took full advantage. She twisted her head slightly and gave Yang’s thumb a light peck, then smiled and returned to her eating. That little kiss could have sent Yang to pieces if she hadn’t had to immediately collect herself and continue eating or risk falling behind.

The redhead seemed consumed by the eating and Yang was happy to sit there and eat with her. It was a pattern the two had fallen into because of just how much they ate. When they were sharing a meal, they basically ate in silence, powering through their piles of food and talking after. If someone else sat with them they would slow their pace and try to make conversation but when it was just the two of them, they made way for the food. Nora finished her plate first and relaxed into her chair, content to sip at her shake while Yang finished up. She didn’t have long to wait though as the waitress soon returned with two more plates.

“You girls looked like you had plenty of room for more.” She set the plates down and Yang stuffed the last of her first serving into her mouth to make room for the next. The waitress smiled and took their dirty plates away. Yang swallowed hard and looked at the steaming pile of hotcakes. 

“Wow, you weren’t kidding. They have great service.” Nora smiled at the surprised blonde.

“They only messed up one part.” Nora grabbed both plates and switched them.

“No they didn’t. You just took my blueberries.” Yang gave her a playful glare.

“Yeah they did. We have to trade, duh.” Nora stuck her tongue out at Yang and began pouring an unhealthy amount of maple syrup on her plate. Yang laughed and picked her silverware back up, ready to attack again. It took the girls longer to finish the second round but it was just as delicious. Yang found that the chunks of strawberry were cut and spread evenly enough that every bite had some, but no bite was overpowered by the taste. She didn’t use any matching syrup like Nora, but enjoyed the meal all the same. As they approached the end of their second stack the waitress returned with the full coffeepot for Yang.

“More coffee?” she held the pot up to Yang who smiled and nodded her head, mouth too full to speak. The waitress deftly filled her mug and turned to Nora, “Are you going to want another plate?” Nora looked at Yang who shrugged.

“I think one more,” Nora gave their server a smile, “I’ll have strawberry again.”

“I think I’ll have strawberry too.” Yang swallowed and grinned at the girl, then at Nora.

“Alright, coming right up.” she flashed them both a polite smile and headed back towards the kitchen, coffee pot in hand. Nora turned to the grinning blonde.

“Strawberry huh?” 

“Oh yeah, you won me over to your side.” Yang forked another mouthful and ate it as if to prove her point.

“Not the only side I won you over to,” Nora gave Yang a knowing wink and returned to her meal as well. Yang laughed to herself and kept eating. They finished their second round of pancakes and the third round had yet to arrive so they had a moment to talk.

“You were right Nora, these are pretty good pancakes.” Yang took a sip of her coffee.

“Pretty good? Pretty good? No, I told you they’re the best.” Nora crossed her arms and gave Yang a terrible attempt at a stink eye.

“They’re just not as good as mine.” Yang set her mug down and regarded her girlfriend smugly.

“And when are you gonna make me these legendary pancakes? Hmm?” Nora tried to maintain her immovable certainty but was undoubtedly intrigued.

“Well, they’re not just for anyone you know? Only for really special people.” Yang again sipped from her mug, calm and collected.

“Special? Am I not special to you?” Nora delivered her best pouting face, hoping that by imitating Ruby she might get the pancakes that had been developed for her.

“Oh you’re plenty special and you know it.” Yang let her indifferent mask break and gave Nora a stupid smile, “Just find a time when we can make it work and get in the kitchen.” Nora bounced in her seat and clapped her hands together.

“Ooh I bet we could tonight. No one else will be using the kitchen when we get back.” her eyes lit back up with that gleam Yang had seen right when the first order arrived, she was just glad she had caused it this time.

“Tonight? Don’t you think this is enough for one night?” Yang gestured to the plates before them, “And we have more coming.” Nora’s excitement dropped and she became very serious.

“You can never have too many pancakes Yang.” she leveled a stony stare at the blonde.

“Okay, okay,” Yang threw her hands up defensively, “Not tonight though. I want my pancakes to have a shot at winning.” Nora relaxed and smile again.

“That sounds fair.” she looked sadly at the empty shake cup and back to Yang, “Soon though?”

“Soon, I promise.” Yang reached over and grasped Nora’s hand. The waitress arrived with enough commotion to bring them apart. They lifted their plates up and out of the way so she could set their third order down and then handed the empties to her.

“Enjoy.” she smiled and carried their things away. Nora retrieved her fork and knife and gave Yang a competitive glare.

“This time, it’s a race.” the petite girl didn’t wait for a response and dove directly into the pile, cutting and shoveling faster than before. Yang went at her pancakes in a panic. This, this she would not lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so that catches me up to where I am on FanFiction.net and I can now start posting to both sites together. My update schedule for Clubbin' is Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday/Sunday. Holidays and such shouldn't really effect this schedule as I am a government employee and days off mean, if anything, that I'll have more time to write not less. 
> 
> I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I have a lot more planned for it and there's no reason I shouldn't be able to maintain the pace I have set out for myself. 
> 
> Also, "Friends and Loved Ones" is coming along really well right now. It's somewhere around 110 pages at this point and I'm just approaching the halfway point so watch out for that as it comes down the line a little later.
> 
> I always love to hear from you so please let me know what you think and any ideas or concerns you might have. 
> 
> Also, as a sort of side note to any who might be reading. I am kind of starting to look for some talented artists to draw some of the scenes from my stories just for the giggles. I am not skilled in art in any way but I would love to see some these scenes brought to life. So, if you want to go for it then please do and just send me a link to where ever you post it or the file or however you wanna do it if you do. I'd love to see them.
> 
> Thanks for reading so far. I hope you stick around.
> 
> -Zach


	10. Date Night Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They move on from the diner to a calm walk on the beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang glanced up at the sky, here in the city most of the stars were invisible, blocked out by the writhing power of civilization. The moon hung motionless over the bay, huge broken shards coming into view tonight. They cast their scattered rays across the water, dancing on the surface and playing in the gentle current. Yang inhaled deeply, feeling the salty air rush into her lungs and nostrils. On Patch, you could smell the ocean from virtually anywhere on the island and Yang missed the scent of seawater. She sighed in contentment at the familiar feeling and felt a squeeze at her hand. She looked over to Nora, walking happily beside her, eyes closed and taking long deep breaths.

“You like the ocean too?” Nora opened her soft, pale blue eyes and looked up to Yang.

“I love it here,” a little smile, “I never came to the beach a lot before Beacon, but now that it’s so close I come a lot,” she closed her eyes again and lifted her chin to the sky, feeling the evening breeze against her neck. Yang watched as the breeze tousled her short hair, blowing it gently away from her face and exposing the thin curve of her neck. The breeze died down slightly and she lowered her head, opening her eyes again, “Ren and I like to walk on the shore like this, he says the sound of the waves helps calm him and I just love it.”

“Does he really need help to stay calm?” Yang chuckled a little bit, trying to imagine the boy as anything but, “He seems so collected all the time.”

“Yeah, he really puts a lot of effort into that though. Like, he meditates every night and does these breathing exercises too.” Nora giggled and lifted her free hand to her mouth, “He’s just a very focused guy I guess.” Yang looked out over the ocean and thought about her girlfriend’s surrogate brother. It was incredible to her that Nora was able to get along with her and Ren so well, because they were such opposites. Where Yang had found in Nora a girl very much like her little sister who she was able to swiftly come to terms with, Nora had picked someone who was the exact opposite of her constant companion. Ren was calm and collected and Yang was fiery and unpredictable. The boy was quiet and peaceful but Yang was just one bad hair day away from a total explosion.

“Nora,” Yang turned from the sea and back to the little redhead beside her, “How do you do it?”

“Do what?” Nora cocked her head to one side, unsure of Yang’s meaning.

“How do you put up with me and live with Ren so well? We’re like total opposites.” Yang kicked her head off to one side to throw her hair out of the way, getting it out from between herself and Nora.

“Well, Ren and I. We’re family. I’ve known him forever and I couldn’t imagine him being any other way than how he is. We grew up together and he’s always been there for me. We both just get each other I guess and so it’s never really a problem. I talk and talk and talk and he just listens to everything I say and really actually pays attention. And I guess he must like that too, because some people don’t know what to do when he’s so quiet, but I know he’s always listening so I just say whatever’s on my mind.” Nora smiled and Yang felt like she understood their relationship a little better. They balanced each other out and understood where the other was coming from in a way that no one else really did.

“And what about me?” Yang felt a bubble in her chest, she hadn’t meant to get into such a serious talk when they were just taking a walk with bellies full of pancake, but it had just happened. Now she was worried what Nora’s answer might be, or how she might take the question.

“You,” Nora poked Yang in the nose playfully, “You are just fantastic.” Nora giggled and squeezed Yang’s hand, “You know how to have fun the way I like, you can keep up with me at like everything,” she turned a sly smile on Yang, “Well everything we’ve tried so far.” and then let her face fell back to the happy smile she usually wore around her girlfriend. “You’re really great and considerate and I think you like me like I like you. Plus, you’re just drop dead gorgeous.” Nora let go of Yang’s and moved in closer to her, sliding an arm around her waist and nuzzling her head into Yang’s strong arm. Yang let her arm fall over Nora’s shoulder and pulled her close.

“Oh come on Nora, that’s not fair,” Yang teased, “I asked how you deal with me. I didn’t want you to just make a bunch of stuff up.” she squeezed the girl at her side, hoping desperately that not a word of what she had said was false. Nora giggled lightly and pushed into her embrace,

“I wasn’t lying Yang.” Yang grew a calm, contented grin and stroked Nora’s shoulder. They walked like that for a little while, enjoying the cool evening air, the feel of the ocean and the breeze and each other. Then Nora piped up, “Yang, can I ask something?”

Yang hummed a soft noise of affirmation,

“It’s kinda weird. So, if you don’t wanna tell me yet or anything just say so. It’s just, I’ve been wondering.” Nora went on nervously, and Yang gave her a squeeze.

“Just go for it, what’s up?” Nora breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why do you and Ruby have different last names?” Yang laughed lightly and Nora relaxed in her arm.

“Well that’s just because we have different moms. I have our Dad’s name and Ruby has her Mom’s name.” they approached a bench and Yang pulled Nora over towards it. The girl easily followed and sat down close to the blonde.

“Oh, your Mom and Dad got divorced? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Yang laughed again and cut Nora off.

“No it’s okay, really.” Nora grasped Yang’s hands and squeezed, “They didn’t break up. My Mom, Raven, just left one day. Not a word to me or Dad, we woke up and she was gone. Never came back.” A sadness entered Nora’s eyes and Yang stumbled forward through her little speech, if she was gonna tell Nora, she might as well just tell her everything. “For a while it was just me and Dad. Uncle Qrow came over sometimes to help out, but then Dad married an old friend of his named Summer, that’s Ruby’s Mom.” Nora moved a hand to Yang’s leg and she stopped.

“Yang, if you don’t wanna tell me all this…” she trailed off and Yang met her eyes.

“No really, it’s okay. You should know.” Yang forced a half smile and barreled forward, “After Raven left things were really hard for us. Dad was sad and I was so confused. I thought she left because of me, I thought that I had done something wrong or that she was mad at me. Uncle Qrow tried to tell me that wasn’t it. That his sister left for her own reasons and it wasn’t anybody’s fault,” a hitch entered Yang’s voice and she paused, “Things got better when Summer came though. She was like a real superhero. She could go out on missions with Dad, slay the biggest Grimm and be home in time to make dinner.”  Yang felt a sort of melancholy happiness creep into her voice while she spoke about Summer, “Then they had Ruby and I got a little sister and even Dad seemed to cheer up a lot.”

“So your Dad and Summer are really happy together? She sounds a lot like Ruby.” Nora smiled in hopes that they had reached the happiness in Yang’s life.

“Yeah, Summer was really really great. While we had her, we were a family again.” A tear leaked its way into Yang’s eye. She quickly blinked it away and Nora caught herself, “She died when Ruby was still really little. I don’t even know how much she remembers her. It took so long for us to be happy after that. Summer was just-” There was a small whimpering noise and Yang stopped. She looked up from their hands where she had been staring and found Nora’s eyes, shining wet in the moonlight. She lifted a hand to her girlfriend’s cheek and brushed at it with the back of her hand, trying to erase tears that had yet to fall.

“Yang..” Nora stopped to save her voice from breaking, “I didn’t know.” Yang snuffled quietly and pulled her hand back, trying to play off the emotions that had grabbed at her.

“It’s alright. It was awhile ago now.” She looked away, out towards the ocean, “It’s still really hard sometimes though.” Nora reached over and placed a comforting hand on Yang’s shoulder. Yang leaned into the girl and rested her head on her shoulder. They sat in silence and stared out over the water, Nora’s arm over Yang’s shoulder and their hands clasped with each other in her lap.

“You’re really strong, you know that?” Yang sniffed again and Nora continued, “You’ve been through so much, but you’re the happiest person I know.” Nora let go of Yang’s hand and lifted the blonde’s chin so their eyes met. “You’re incredible Yang.” Yang pushed forward and wrapped her arms around Nora, she tucked her head into her shoulder and Nora gripped her in a caring embrace. Nora rubbed her back, running her hand in wide slow circles. Yang wasn’t crying but it was obvious her emotions were pretty raw and Nora was helping with that. After a long moment Yang pulled away and their hands fell together.

“I really like you Nora. You’re being so good to me. With all of this.” Yang forced out a half-hearted chuckle and Nora smiled her eyes shut. Yang looked at her in that moment, with the moonbeams bouncing off her pale white cheeks, hair blowing gently in the ocean breeze, smile wide to make Yang happy and eyes closed tight against the anguish she knew was on her face. Yang leaned forward and pressed her lips gently to Nora’s.

The redhead let out a small noise of surprise but didn’t pull away even a little. Yang could feel her lips, so soft and wet against her own and it was exactly what she needed. She closed her violet eyes and let herself fall into the kiss a little, relaxing her neck and pressing into Nora. Nora accepted her, taking her pressure willingly and pressing back. They separated and Nora opened her eyes.

“Yang?” her lips were slightly parted and there was a misty look in her eyes.

“You’re incredible Nora.” Yang leaned forward and kissed her again, shorter this time. They pulled apart and Nora had a foolish grin, one Yang recognized as her own from whenever the petite girl planted one of her small kisses on her cheek. Yang was glad to know she could have the same effect on her. Nora slid her arm back over Yang’s shoulder and the blonde rested her head on her girlfriend’s strong shoulder. The only noise was that of the waves lapping lazily at the shore and the soft gentle breaths of the couple on the bench.

For a long time they sat together, watching the waves roll over the sand and the moon make its slow arc across the sky. Yang couldn’t believe how natural it had felt to kiss Nora, she was just so beautiful in that moment and there was no other way Yang would rather have expressed how she felt about her. The feeling of her lips, pressed against hers and the trust she knew that conveyed said all she needed to know about their relationship in that moment. Yang was so absolutely glad she had been brave enough to go after her, and smart enough to get it to this point without messing it all up. She slid a her hand out of Nora’s and sat up, the girl turned to meet her eyes.

“We should get going, it’s kinda late.” They both looked up above them, the moon was over halfway done with it’s trek over Vale.

“Yeah, let’s head back.” They stood and Nora slid her arm back around Yang’s waist. Yang put her arm over Nora’s shoulder and they started back the way they’d come. No one else had been out before and that remained the case. It was like Vale had agreed to give the couple this evening alone on the stretch of sand. They made their way back to the bike, parked in a now empty lot near the waterfront and saddled up. Yang eased the bike out of town and up the winding road back to Beacon. Tonight it felt like time was standing still and she wanted to preserve every moment with Nora so she took it slow. They glided up the road, skimming along the curves and sliding along the straightaways like a bird over calm water. They reached Beacon and found the school was quiet as well. The students seemed to have all chosen quieter activities for their time off. Yang rolled the bike into her marked spot and they stowed their helmets. 

The walk back to their dorm building felt like their first night all over again. Yang couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have found Nora when and how she had met her. The girl was exactly what Yang needed, a fun loving ball of energy that could keep up with Yang but had the compassion to cradle her head on the beach. They weren't on a team so there were no strange anxieties about sharing a room, or being forced to remain with each other if it didn't work out. They were able to just be them and figure this all out.

“I’m a pretty lucky girl.” Nora turned up to her girlfriend at the comment.

“And what makes you think that?” the blonde hummed and thought for a moment.

“Well, I’m at this great school, I’ve got awesome friends, my sister got to skip two years and be my team leader…” Yang stopped walking and contemplated the ground deeply, “Oh yeah and I’ve got you.” Nora giggled and Yang squeezed her hands in her grip.

“No, that’s not luck.” Nora pushed at Yang playfully, “You had to work for me,” she smiled with confidence and pulled away from Yang, crossing her arms pridefully. Yang rushed forward and swept Nora up in a hug, kissing her cheek. They remained embraced but pulled apart to see one another’s faces.

“It was worth every-” Nora leaned forward and kissed Yang into silence. They held each other there in the middle of the path, Nora swept up in Yang’s arms, lips locked firmly together. Yang slid one hand up Nora’s back and let the other fall to just above her waist. Nora raised her hands to the back of Yang’s head and pulled her in deeper. Their lips parted slightly and Yang could feel Nora’s warm breath, her heartbeat in her lips and throat. They relaxed and pulled apart slightly.

“Don’t do that to me around Jaune. He might have a heart attack,” they both laughed at Yang’s jest and fell back to each other’s side, walking happily the rest of the way back to the dorm.

“So what happened to taking it slow?” Nora asked playfully from her spot on Yang’s shoulder as they made their way across the darkened campus.

“I just couldn’t take it anymore. What with you leading me on all the time.” Yang let out a light chuckle and Nora squeezed her waist.

“Well I’ll have to keep it up then.” Nora rubbed her head into Yang’s shoulder and ran her thumb in small circles against the blonde’s firm core. They reached the dorm building and climbed the stairs hand in hand, Yang taking the lead and pulling Nora along behind her. They crested the landing and made their way to the adjacent doors. Nora turned on Yang as they stopped, a hungry look in her eye, “So I’m not gonna see you until tomorrow morning?” Yang laughed.

“Yeah, that’s how sleep works” she went to smile but found her lips smothered by Nora’s. Nora pushed back against Yang, forcing her into the wall of Team RWBY’s dorm with a soft thump. Yang grabbed her by the waist and pulled up just slightly, leaning down into the kiss to make up for their height difference. Nora held the kiss and Yang wondered what she intended. She felt Nora’s hands slide around her waist, one hand grazing up her back between her shoulder blades and the other just skirting the hem of her shorts. Yang bristled at the contact, goosebumps rising on her skin and then it was gone. Nora fell away from her with a slight gasp for air.

“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning then.” She spun about on her heel with a wide grin and darted inside Team JNPR’s room. Yang dropped her hands from where they were still resting in the air, right where Nora’s hips had been. She looked at the door in disbelief. Had Nora really just purposefully teased her like that? Yang shook her head, that was her job. She turned for the doorknob to her room and found it unlocked. She opened it slowly and poked her head inside, the room was dark except for a pair of mellow amber eyes on the bunk beneath Yang’s own.

“You two are quite loud.” the eyes darted up as Yang entered and then fell back to the text in her hands.

“Are you still reading? Blake it’s like one in the morning.” Yang pulled out her scroll and checked the time, it was actually already past two.

“Someone had to wait up for you.” she flipped a small red ribbon over the spine of the book to hold her page and gently closed the novel, setting it on the shelf by her bed, “I’m glad your night went well.” Yang went to retort and remembered how well her Faunus partner could hear.

“What? Do I have to leave campus every time I need any privacy?” she shot her partner a chiding but playful look.

“No, just not make out in the hallway.” Blake gave Yang a small, brief smile and then rolled over to go to sleep. Yang laughed and shook her head before heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! So I managed not to mess it up and I posted this chapter to both FF and AO3 in the same day. It looks like there was some sort of problem with the notes and the note from the first chapter reposted here. Thank you FM-96 for pointing that out. 
> 
> Other than that, thank you for reading. I have really, really been looking forward to posting this chapter ever since I wrote it and I'm glad I finally got to. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you come back this weekend to read the back to back chapters.
> 
> Thanks for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	11. Established

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Nora are now a fully established couples and their friends are all acutely aware of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Professor Oobleck stopped in the middle of his rant on the increased efficacy of long range tactics against large, slow opponents such as Goliaths because the bell, which signaled the start of the lunch hour, rang and all of the students began packing up their supplies.

"And remember class, midterms are only a few weeks away and you all must be prepared. But, pay attention, study hard and I'm sure that you'll do just fine." the lanky professor took a long sip from his coffee mug and then disappeared into his office with a flash.

Yang stretched her arms up high above her head with an exaggerated yawn and let one arm fall over Nora's shoulder. Nora giggled and Yang smiled but Weiss just groaned.

"Really Yang? At least try to show a modicum of decency while we're in class." Yang rolled her head off to the side to look at Weiss.

"We're not in class Weiss, the bell rang." she stuck her tongue out at her sister's partner, "Plus you're just jealous I'm dating the cutest girl at Beacon." Nora shoved playfully at Yang.

"Yang don't lie like that. I am not the cutest girl at Beacon." Nora had an edge to her voice, as if Yang's flattery had upset her.

"What? Who could possibly be better looking than you?" Yang pulled back and gave Nora an appreciative once over and Nora's face broke into a silly grin.

"You are, duh." Yang stopped and smiled both in amusement and at the praise, Nora leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which didn't help dissipate the grin at all.

"Oh guys, ewwww, come on" Ruby was obviously flustered by their performance. She grabbed Weiss by the hand and made to pull her down the aisle towards the classroom's exit, "C'mon Weiss let's go before they get worse."

"I don't think they could possibly get any worse. I mean just look at them." Weiss threw her hands out towards the couple who were now stacked on top of each other, Nora sitting in Yang's lap with her arms around the big blonde's neck. Weiss turned and followed Ruby out of the row of seats.

"That's cold Schnee. That's Weiss cold." Yang poked her head up and grinned at the pair as they made their way out, hoping for at least a chuckle, she got none. "Oh come on, that was a good one," she groaned. Nora scooped her now frowning face up in both hands.

"I thought it was Yangtacular." she planted a quick kiss on the blonde's lips.

"Oh you're bad," Yang rubbed her nose against Nora's and giggled. Pyrrha turned a rather bright shade of pink and averted her eyes. Unfortunately for her, they came to rest on the only other blonde in their group who was just putting his things away. She faltered at the sight of him and cleared her throat.

"So," another cough to try and compose herself, "should we make our way to the cafeteria?"

"It's alright if you guys wanna kiss too," Yang teased and Pyrrha's blush grew even greater. Jaune turned to Ren and held out his arms.

"You heard her Ren," Jaune stepped forward, arms outstretched and Ren deftly side stepped his advance.

"I'm sorry Jaune. I have to meet with Professor Port." Ren turned to Pyrrha and then Blake, giving each a polite nod of his head. He then looked to Yang and Nora, "Please try and behave yourself Nora." Nora flashed him a grin.

"I promise nothing," she laughed and Ren sighed good naturedly before turning and heading out of the classroom. Yang pulled Nora closer to her, squeezing her about the waist and Nora giggled.

"Blake, you coming to lunch with us?" Jaune looked over to the quiet girl who had put all her things away except for the slim novel in her hands, she glanced up from her book to respond.

"If we ever actually leave." Jaune smiled and picked up his bag.

"Come on you two," Jaune waved a hand to beckon Yang and Nora to follow him and the rest of their group to the cafeteria. The team leader struck out from the room, Pyrrha followed close on his heels, clutching her bag at her waist. Yang and Nora stood, wrapped themselves around one another and followed after them. Blake quietly tucked her book away and brought up the rear of their little group.

They reached the cafeteria and spread out to do what they needed to. Blake grabbed a salad and a tea and made her way over to a large empty spot of table. Yang and Nora made their way to the lunch meats and began a contest of who could build a taller sandwich. Jaune quickly grabbed a rather large and healthy meal, throwing seemingly random items all over his tray but ending with a fairly varied assortment of food. Pyrrha slowly made her way through the food, picking out the healthiest looking vegetables and the leanest cuts of meat. Yang and Nora made their way back to Blake first, each with two huge sandwiches, the meat and veggies slipping off the edges of the bread crammed as full as they were. They both had huge grins plastered on their faces as they plopped down across from Blake.

"Is that really all you're gonna eat Blake?" Blake looked down at her simple meal and then up to Yang and her two giant sandwiches.

"Are you really going to eat all that?" It was Yang's turn to look down at her food.

"Yeah, of course." She looked over at Nora, "Maybe some more too, right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely!" Nora scooped up one of her sandwiches and dug in without hesitation. She swallowed the bite almost without chewing, "It's great 'cause it hides the veggies in all this meat," she took another huge bite and Jaune finally arrived. He took a seat next to Blake, putting himself between her and the group next to them and across from the two girls currently devouring their humongous sandwiches.

"How do they eat like that?" he picked up his fork and knife and began eating like a much more reasonable human being. Pyrrha arrived and Blake slid lithely to the side, giving the Mistralian girl plenty of room to sit between herself and Jaune. Pyrrha nodded a silent thank you to the girl and seated herself beside her team leader.

"Where are Ruby and Weiss? I assumed they would be joining us here for lunch." Pyrrha folded her hands in her lap, wanting to have her conversation before she began eating. Yang choked down most of her most recent bite of sandwich and shoved the rest to the side of her mouth, allowing her to speak.

"They have a sparring match this afternoon for class. I think they went to make sure they were ready." she finished swallowing and took another over large bite. Pyrrha nodded in understanding.

"I see. I'm sure they will do splendidly. They're both very talented." Pyrrha smiled politely at Ruby's older sister and Jaune grinned in agreement.

"Ruby was telling me about all these team attacks she came up with for you guys. I'm sure she and Weiss have a bunch ready." Jaune laughed, "We should come up with some too." He looked back and forth between his two teammates.

"Oh yes that would be grand." Pyrrha perked up at the thought of having dedicated attacks with Jaune.

"I think Nora and I would have some really cool combos." Jaune looked at the little redhead who's mouth was currently full to bursting with sandwich. She nodded her head emphatically and made affirmative grunting noises through the mass of bread and lunch meats. Pyrrha did her best to maintain a smile and turned her head quickly back and forth between Nora and Jaune.

"You should have some moves with your partner as well don't you think Jaune?" Blake said without ever looking up from her book. Jaune paused and seemed to give the matter some thought, tapping his finger rhythmically on the table.

"Yeah, I mean we both kinda use the same weapons though." he looked at Pyrrha next to him.

"Oh yes that's true. Still there is a lot of potential for teamwork even with similar weapons." Pyrrha gave Jaune a small smile, obviously ignoring his statement that Crocea Mors and Milo and Akouo were at all similar. Yang swallowed her mouthful of food.

"You just have to arc yourself Jaune, what would be most effective?" she looked on expectantly, waiting for a reaction. She got none and turned to Nora who nervously swallowed.

"Uh yeah.." a small laugh, "Sorry Yang that was kinda a stretch." Yang's shoulders fell in defeat.

"It's not my fault you all have a terrible sense of humor," she mumbled under her breath. Nora popped a finger out of her mouth as she finished pushing the last bit of her first sandwich into her mouth. She looked at Yang with slight concern.

"Nu huh, you're jusch gettin' laschy" Nora forced out through her full mouth and then gulped it down to speak clearly, "You gotta try harder than that," she leaned over and gave Yang a quick peck on the cheek. Yang brightened considerably and tackled the other girl in a hug, kissing her face repeatedly.

"Am I trying hard enough now?" She tackled the redhead to the bench and assaulted her with kisses.

"A little too hard actually." Blake glanced at the two and then let her gaze fall back to her book.

"So Jaune, are we still training tonight?" Pyrrha turned away from the overly affectionate pair to her partner.

"Every night right? Did I miss one? Oh no Pyrrha I'm so sorry. I've just been so tired and-" Pyrrha raised a hand to stop him and laughed slightly.

"No, no Jaune you haven't missed any. I just like to make sure we'll both be there." she smiled and turned away slightly, hiding her face from him but not hiding her blush from Nora or Yang. Yang sat up, pulling most of herself off of Nora and looked at the taller redhead across from her.

"Yeah Jaune, you wouldn't want to leave a girl waiting on you forever." Nora sat up underneath Yang and regarded her female teammate who's blush had now increased.

"C'mon Yang, Jaune would never lead someone on like that." they both giggled and Blake sighed quietly.

"I'm gonna be there guys come on." Jaune threw his hands out in a desperate plea for mercy, "You just heard her, I've never missed even once."

"Oh yeah Jaune, you've been to every training. But that's all you've done." Yang pulled off of Nora so her girlfriend could sit up completely.

"No, I've been working out a lot more and practicing on my own too." Jaune crossed his arms in pride.

"Well I'm sure that Pyrrha appreciates your effort." Blake closed her book with a certain finality.

"Well I mean-" Jaune started again but Pyrrha enthusiastically cut him off.

"Oh yes, he's been getting much better." and then realizing what she had done, she immediately clammed back up. Jaune looked at her expectantly, shocked at her sudden outburst. Pyrrha shifted uneasily in her seat, "Not that you were umm bad before, just that, well…" Pyrrha stopped herself, unsure as to where to go, "The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement" she looked up to Jaune with a smile, confident in the effect of one of her many training slogans. Jaune rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Yeah and for me it's more like a stadium," he laughed away his own shame and settled down to eat. Pyrrha too tried to settle into the uncomfortable silence and begin eating. For a moment the group was silent but for the sound of utensils piercing food and the low munch of chewing. Yang was about halfway through her second sandwich when she looked across to her partner.

"So Blake, any big plans coming up?" Blake raised her eyes from her meal and gave Yang a look of utter confusion.

"I'm sorry?" she raised an eyebrow to the blonde in suspicion.

"Yeah, you know I've been out with Nora so much we haven't really talked in a bit." Yang took another large bite and grinned at her partner as she chewed. Blake lowered her quirked eyebrow and continued hesitantly.

"Not much has changed. Although you two are still keeping me up." Blake dropped her eyes back to her meal with a knowing smirk and Pyrrha recoiled in shock.

"Nora.." she gasped and then managed to bring herself under control, "What you two do is between you, but please don't let it disturb others." Pyrrha stared purposefully at her plate and ate, trying not to hide but to outright ignore the redness in her cheeks. Yang and Nora both nearly choked on their sandwiches.

"I thought you said?" Jaune looked at the two confused, "I'm gonna have to start knocking and coming in with my eyes closed again, huh?" he sighed in defeat. Nora hurriedly swallowed to correct the confusion.

"No no no, we aren't doing anything yet." she waved her hands about in front of her in defense, "I mean we kissed over the weekend but that's all." Nora's face showed the slightest hint of heat which she immediately smothered by guzzling her drink.

"Oh yes, we can all see that you two are kissing now." Blake sighed and stood, "I have to do something before class, I'll see you all there." She turned to go but Yang grunted out through her full mouth, stuffed with the last of her food and Blake stopped.

"Hold up Blake," she swallowed and jumped up, "We'll come with you." Blake cocked her head to the side in askance, "What? I told you I wanna spend more time with my partner." Nora jumped up as well, bringing the last bit of her food with her. Yang scooped up the couple's trays and trash and then grabbed Blake's as well. She jogged off to the nearest trashcan and deposited their things before returning.

"I'm just going to the library," she held up the book she had been reading, "I need the next in the series."

"Oh okay cool, we'll walk with you there," Yang made intense eye contact with Blake and tried to nod her head as nonchalantly as possible towards Pyrrha and Jaune. Nora was trying desperately to finish the last of her food as quickly as possible while also smiling and nodding her head rapidly up and down. Blake nodded in silent realization and motioned for them to follow.

"I suppose some company may be nice." The three turned and walked away from the table, waving farewell to Jaune and Pyrrha as they went. Yang looked over her shoulder to where Pyrrha and Jaune were now happily chatting, she smiled and Pyrrha turned. The tall Mistralian girl mouthed the words "Thank You" quickly and then returned her full attention to the blonde beside her. Yang slid her arm around Nora who was just shoving the final bit of her sandwich down and squeezed. Nora let out a small eep and leaned into the embrace, trying her best to keep her messy hands away from Yang's clothes. The now smaller group exited the cafeteria and entered the vast halls of Beacon.

"So Blake, I uhh… Yang told me not to but," Nora started after she had finished chewing, "Well she told me not to, but I really feel like I should tell you because I'm really really not good with secrets. Like every time I see you I realize I have a secret and I'm always super careful about what I say so I don't say anything about it." Blake sighed and turned to the anxious girl wrapped up in her partner's arms.

"Yes Nora?" she tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"Well, I kinda might know about you, like how you're different." Blake's face fell immediately from that reassuring smile to a worried grimace, "Oh I'm sorry… see Yang told me not to but I did." she clutched at Yang's side, "I'm sorry Yang." Yang patted her on the back caringly.

"It's okay Nora, c'mon. Blakes gotta understand that she isn't a big mysterious secret anymore." Yang looked over Nora's head at her partner and tried to silently reassure her that it was okay. She smiled and nodded her head, doing her best to say "It's okay" without making any noise, she wasn't sure Blake understood what she meant though.

"Nora, it's okay. What do you know?" Blake took a shaking breath and tried to steady herself. Nora turned hesitantly, they had reached a deserted stretch of hallway and were mostly alone.

"Well, I know that you're a Faunus Blake." she whispered, looking cautiously around to try and ensure that no one heard. Blake sighed and her bow visibly drooped, Nora's eyes lit up with excitement at the motion she knew her Faunus ears were making underneath, "Oh my Oum, your bow moves with your ears?" Nora giggled in excitement and tried her best to restrain herself. Blake hurriedly looked away and at the ground, putting a self-conscious hand up to her head to make sure her bow had not come loose at all, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just so cool, my ears don't do anything." Nora pulled playfully at her two very human ears. Yang put her hand gently on Blake's shoulder.

"It's okay Blake, she doesn't care." Yang looked at Nora and then back to Blake, "Okay, she definitely cares but in a good way." Yang smiled and put her arm back around Nora. Nora had her hands clenched together under her chin and was still desperately trying to resist the urge to tackle Blake in a hug, "Nora, let's let Blake go to the library." Yang turned and started to pull Nora away but Blake called out to stop them.

"Actually, can you help me?" The couple spun back to their Faunus friend, happy excitement in their eyes.

"Yeah of course we can Blake what's up?"  
"Has somebody been picking on you? Do we need to break some legs?"

The excitable, overly energetic couple spoke as one. They both rushed over to Blake and she cowered slightly, startled by their sudden advance.

"No, it's more umm.." Blake's face flushed red and she turned away again, clutching the novel she meant to return nervously in her hands, "You know what it's okay. Nevermind." She made to walk away.

"No Blake, really let us help." Yang reached out but didn't grab her, Blake stopped.

"I need help with Sun. I'm pretty sure he likes me and we talk a lot and everything, but, I want him to make the next move." Blake finished in a hurry and didn't turn to face them.

"Oh yes this is perfect!" Nora yelled in the hallway, several students further away turned and regarded her curiously before continuing on their way. Yang laughed and Blake slowly turned away.

"We can totally help you with that, kitty cat." Yang jabbed her playfully in the ribs with her elbow, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Don't do that." Blake's voice lost all the shyness from before, it was even and cold. Yang coughed and stood straighter.

"Sorry," she laughed a little and cleared her throat, "That's easy though. Boys are dense is all. We'll set him straight for you." Yang smiled and pointed to herself with her thumb, "I may be a lesbian, but I've still got a way with boys." Blake sighed and shook her head side to side sadly.

"This was a terrible idea."

"No really, it's gonna be great. We'll just make sure he knows you like him. Think about it. He's probably really super nervous because you're so beautiful and everything." Blake shied under Nora's praise and Yang turned to her.

"Have you been checking out my partner?" She raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"What? Oh no, no definitely not." Nora waved her hands in front of herself defensively, "Not anymore at least I mean. But before we were dating…" Nora trailed off and looked off into her memory, "Maybe once or twice." she giggled and threw her arms around Yang, "But I thought you were like super straight so yeah." she planted a kiss directly on Yang's lips to calm any further protest.

"You know what, it's okay, forget I asked." Blake tried to hurry off down the hallway but Yang and Nora followed on either side.

"We're not letting you run away from this one." Yang caught up to her right side and put her arm through Blake's.

"Yeah come on, we've gotta go make a plan." Nora reached Blake's other side and caught that arm up as well. Together the two guided Blake off down the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there it is, the first half of my weekend double feature. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think below and stay tuned for tomorrow's update.
> 
> Thanks for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	12. All Our Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A moment away from Collateral Damage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang gave Nora one final kiss, gripping the shorter girl to herself hard and making sure she knew just how much she cared about her, then pushed her away. Yang stepped back and Nora backed away from her onto the airship. Team JNPR waved to the lone blonde who had come to bid them farewell as they left so early in the morning. It was just a routine mission, nothing that hadn't done before and nothing they couldn't handle so everyone had just wished them a safe return the night before. Not Yang though, she and Nora had spent all day together yesterday, somehow more so than usual and she was up and waiting in the hallway for them that morning, even before Pyrrha.

"Be careful," Yang yelled as loud as she could over the engines, "Kick some ass for me." Yang cupped her hands to her mouth and bellowed. Nora was far beyond capable of handling the mission they were headed out on, plus she would have Ren and Pyrrha there to protect her, and Jaune too. That didn't stop Yang from worrying though, every mission they went on was dangerous, every battle with the Grimm a chance at death. Nora flashed Yang a huge grin and extended one arm in a cocky thumbs up, the other busy balancing her massive Magnhild across her shoulder. Ren gave Yang a knowing nod and Pyrrha and Jaune both waved and smiled. The doors slid closed and the ship tilted away from the platform, banking into a steep turn and tearing off towards their goal.

Yang stood on the platform and watched as the airship grew smaller and smaller, fading away into the terrible distance that would separate her from Nora for the next few days while they were deployed. She watched until the dot faded into nothing and then stood there for another long while, hoping against logic that the ship might suddenly reappear in the sky, the team's goal already completed thanks to Nora's unyielding desire to return. Yang stood alone until reality leaked back in around the edges and she realized she needed to return. She gave one last look out to the horizon.

"Just make sure you come back," and then made off for the dorms. The early morning sun was beating down and Yang contemplated what she would with a Saturday away from her red headed fireball of a girlfriend. She should probably hit the bags a little, maybe see if Blake was up for some sparring, whatever she decided to do, she needed to head back to the room and grab her things. Yang meandered her way back to the room, in no particular hurry and knowing that Ruby might still be asleep. Weiss and Blake were certainly awake by now and being a weekend would most likely have left the room to give Ruby a chance to sleep in.

 She finally reached the building and made her way up the stairs. It had been nearly a full two weeks now since she had made this climb without her hand wrapped firmly in Nora’s. She realized as she climbed the steps how quickly their routines had consumed each other and how very little time she spent away from Nora anymore. They woke up in the morning and immediately met in the hallway, they sat with each other in every class they shared and walked together between the others, they ate lunch together, worked out together and even started sparring, and then they stayed out in the hallway to talk until they had to sleep and more recently they had even utilized their alone time for some more intimate moments. They had only really kissed so far, sure there was some heavy kissing, even a little tongue, but they had not felt each other up, had not reached anywhere special and had not kissed much besides each others mouths and cheeks. But still, those moments they shared together were white hot in Yang’s memory, how had she ignored how attracted she was to Nora for this long?

Yang reached the landing for her floor and turned on her heel, down towards her room. The halls echoed with the noise of others going about their mornings, although she had to admit that it was noticeably calmer without the sound of Nora resounding of the walls. Everyone got a pretty early start at Beacon, even on the weekends, everyone except of course her little sister who Yang was sure was still wrapped in her blankets, shielding her eyes against the dawn with a pillow and cooing softly in her sleep. Yang reached their door and tapped her scroll to undo the lock, she eased the handle down and slid the door open as quietly as she could, turning her back into the darkened room and closing the door softly, watching the clasp to try and keep it as silent as possible. How did Blake make this kind of stealth seem so easy? If that girl ever womaned up and talked to Sun, they would have one of the sneakiest couple's on Remnant stealthing their way in and out of the dorm.

Yang accomplished her goal and shut the door without a sound, releasing the handle slowly and turning about. The lights were off as Yang had expected, freeing their team leader from that stimulant at least, but their room faced the sunrise and so the floor and walls were bathed in a warm glow that matched Yang's hair. What Yang didn't expect was what she found blocking some of that glow. Huddled on the windowsill with her arms wrapped around her knees and the hood of her blood red cloak flung up over her head sat Yang's little sister. Her form was silhouetted against the rising sun, a dark outline cutting hard against the glow of the morning Yang had been enjoying so tenderly just moments before. Worry flooded her mind as she took in the sight, Ruby only put her hood up for two reasons, when she was embarrassed and when she was scared. Seeing as she had been in the room alone, Yang had to assume she wasn't embarrassed about anything and so rushed over to her side, clearing the room in two bounding strides to kneel by her sister's side. She put one hand on her shoulders and the other on Ruby's knee.

"Hey, hey, Rubes what's wrong?" Yang slipped easily into the voice she had used with Ruby since they were younger, a soft, caring and almost motherly voice. Ruby had grown up a fairly fragile little girl because of Summer's death. She had always been quick to joy or happiness but just as quick to sadness and fear and Yang had sheltered her from everything, confident that she could keep her little sister smiling all the time and defend her from the horrors she knew the world was capable of. Ruby sniffled and wiped at her face without turning from the window. She made a small hiccuping noise and sniffled again before responding.

"Nothing Yang, I'm okay," Ruby pulled at the edge of her hood closer to Yang and wiped at her eyes, hiding her face and obscuring the depth of her emotions. Yang was lost, never before had Ruby tried to hide what was bothering her from Yang. Yang was always there for her, she was her older sister and her absolute defender and Ruby knew that. She had promised her growing up that she would cling to Ruby with every ounce of her strength and stay with her no matter what. So, why was Ruby hiding like this? Yang looked her over quickly, she was wearing her hood true, but her feet were bare and she was still in her pajamas. Had she gotten straight out of bed to start crying?

"Ruby," worry had joined the care in Yang's voice, "You know you can tell me anything. What's wrong?" Ruby sniffled again and failed to respond for a moment. Yang waited, her hand resting on Ruby's back, using her thumb to rub gently back and forth across the nape of her little sister's neck, a motion that she knew from years of experience helped to soothe her. Ruby stared out the window, as if trying to formulate exactly what to say. She shouldn't need to think this hard with Yang, she should just be able to tell her exactly what was bothering her.

“I’m just,” Ruby began to open up but trailed off and rubbed at her eyes again, “I’m just being a stupid little girl Yang. I’m sorry.” Ruby’s shoulders shook and she let out a sob, dropping her head back to her knees and crying softly. Yang had seen enough of this and decided it was time to take charge of the situation. She slid her arm under Ruby’s knees and scooped her up off her perch. Ruby instinctively leaned into Yang’s shoulder and wrapped her arms about her neck, continuing to cry softly into her shoulder. Yang carried her over to Blake’s bunk and laid her down gently, resting her head on the pillow closer to the wall. Ruby curled into a ball and rolled her face into the pillow. Yang eased herself down onto the mattress and slid her arm back around her little sister. She pulled her in close and put her other arm over the diminutive little girl, wanting to shelter her from whatever was causing this. Ruby’s gentle sobs died out and she huddled against Yang, clutching at her shirt and burying her face in her sister’s shoulder and mass of hair. Yang didn’t say a thing but just sat there, holding Ruby and rhythmically stroking the red tipped hair on the back of her head.

They laid together for a long time, long enough for the sun to rise up above the edge of their window and cast the room into a gentle shade. Yang paid the ticking clock absolutely zero heed as she cradled Ruby against her. Eventually her sister pulled away and met Yang's eyes.

"Hey there Rubes, are you doing okay?" Yang ran a hand over the side of Ruby's hair, tucking a tear dampened strand behind her ear so she could see her big, beautiful silver eyes.

"I'm sorry Yang. I shouldn't be like this anymore." Ruby wiped at her face again and pulled her knees up to her chest, "I'm supposed to be our leader, not a pitiful little girl." Yang ran her thumb along the crown of Ruby's head and thought she had come on the source of the issue.

"Did you have a nightmare?" When she was much younger Ruby had constant nightmares, nearly every night she would wake up screaming in a cold sweat, panicking and unable to calm down for hours. Yang had always gone to her and held her just like she was now, whispering words of comfort and telling her that she would always be there to protect her. As she got older the terrors faded away and became a part of who she had been growing up, she had conquered them with Yang's help and their bond was stronger for it. However, every once and a while, really very rarely, they would come back for a night. It hadn't happened since they started at Beacon and Yang thought maybe Ruby had finally completely gotten past them. But it appeared that they were still lingering and were still as intense as ever.

"Yeah," Ruby mumbled weakly and pressed her forehead back against Yang's shoulder. She wasn't crying anymore but was still broken inside and Yang was trying her best to hold her together.

"I'm sorry Ruby. It seems like it was a pretty bad one." Ruby nodded her head against Yang's body, confirming her worry. Yang just rubbed her back and waited until she was ready to say something more. Ruby sniffled hard and started talking without moving her head from her sister's embrace.

"It was all of us. We were out on a mission and I lead us into a cave to camp for the night." Ruby shuddered in her arms and paused before continuing, "I took watch outside and we seemed safe. I heard a noise in the cave and went running back in, we had checked to make sure it was clear. We had made sure we were safe." Ruby began crying again, tears running freely down her cheeks as she recounted the horrible dream, "There were Death Stalkers,' she hiccupped in her sobbing, "There were so many Yang, I tried to get them off of you, off of Blake and Weiss but," she buried her face into Yang's shirt, soaking it through with tears and ending her story. Yang clutched her close to her chest until she was able to continue, "Then when I woke up, none of you were here." Ruby pulled her head away from Yang's chest and silver met violet, "They were gone and you were out with Nora. I was so scared Yang and I was alone." Yang didn't know what to say, it had been a normal Saturday morning, she had just been seeing Nora off and Weiss and Blake were probably at breakfast, but she hadn't been there when her sister needed her most. Tears reached Yang's eyes and she knew she couldn't let her little sister see, so she pulled her in again, holding her as close as she could, she never wanted to let go again.

Yang tried to hold it down but a single sob rocked her body. Ruby immediately pulled back with a strength Yang hadn't expected. She saw on Yang's face a very unfamiliar sight, tears, marring her always beaming smile. Ruby recoiled in shock and Yang clung to her.

"Yang?" Ruby's voice was full of concern and fear.

"Don't move Ruby, come here." Yang pulled her little sister back to her and the younger girl collapsed into her, wrapping her arms around her older sister, "I'm so sorry. I should have been here for you." Yang tangled her fingers in Ruby's hair and pushed her forehead to the top of her head. She breathed deep to try and steady herself, she could smell Ruby's shampoo and the salt from her tears. She choked on her next words and coughed a little, trying to force them out.

"Yang it's okay, I-"

"No, it's not Ruby. You're our leader now. I respect and admire everything you've done since we got here. You are growing so fast and you're already a better Huntress than me. But, you're still my little sister and I need to be here for you." Yang pulled away just enough to put her hand on Ruby's chest, right where her collar bone made a point, "Right here, I need to be right here to protect you." The anguish and fear was suddenly gone from Yang's voice, replaced by a fierce determination.

"I miss you so much Yang." Ruby's eyes were brimmed with red, the only place on her body the color didn't belong.

"I know," Yang regained control of her voice, leveling her tone, "I'm sorry I haven't been around. I just got so caught up with Nora. I'm sorry." Ruby shook her head.

“Yang that’s not what I mean. It’s just that, you’re doing all these things on your own. You’re out with Nora or you’re training with Blake or out somewhere having fun.” Ruby interrupted herself with another small hiccup, her sunken voice had faded and she was ranting now, letting out what had been pulling at her, “I’m just me Yang.” she met her sister’s concerned gaze, “Weiss is still so distant, it’s like I can’t get in her head and Blake is so nice but she’s your partner. I just...I feel like I shouldn’t have skipped forward. I thought it would be okay because you’d be here, but it’s not.” Yang was blown away, she thought Ruby had been doing so great. She was always laughing with their friends, or trying to get them to go out and do things with her. Could it really be that she was trying so hard because she felt like she was still alone? Yang had been so caught up in all of her own things that she hadn’t even stopped to consider that Ruby wasn’t doing well socially. Friends had never been a problem for Ruby, she was always so bright and happy that people couldn’t help but like her. She had a point though, she had skipped forward a full two years and was completely out of her comfort zone, which wasn’t large to begin with.

"Ruby, I'll spend more time with you. I'll make Blake and Weiss hang out with us and we'll do stuff as a team all the time. I can stop spending so much time with Nora, I'll just tell her-"

"No, you're so happy with her. I haven't seen you this happy in so long." Ruby smiled through her tear stained cheeks, "I just need to grow up and deal with this," her face fell back to a frown.

"But Ruby, I don't care if it's making you sad like this. You don't have to deal with all of this alone. Like you said, you only came because you knew I would be here for you. I need to be the sister you already think I am." Yang let her hands fall to Ruby's and held them both in between her own. Ruby's frown eased a little at her sister's words. Yang could tell that she didn't want to be a burden, the last thing she wanted was for Yang to throw aside her own life to take care of her, but that's exactly what Yang was willing to do.

"I just...I'm just being selfish," Yang couldn't help but chuckle.

"You? Selfish? Ruby you are the most selfless, caring, generous girl on all of Remnant," Ruby smiled a little again Yang cheered a little, glad her sister was recovering, "and I love you for it."

"I love you too sis'," Ruby threw herself back at Yang, wrapping her arms around her and rolling them over. They both laughed and rolled off the bed together, ending in a heap on the floor. Yang cradled Ruby in her lap and smiled down at the girl, relieved beyond words that she was smiling again. "But you cannot stop seeing Nora, I forbid it." Yang laughed at the sudden change in Ruby's demeanor, from shivering little girl to full blown leader giving orders in a single hug, "You'll just have to bring her over here and we'll all hang out together." she gave Yang a wide smile even under her puffy eyes and tear streaked cheeks.

"Well, miss leader, I guess you're feeling better?" Yang smiled down at her.

"Yeah, thanks Yang." Ruby leaned up and gave her sister another hard squeeze.

"Good," she squeezed her back, "Now let's go get breakfast." Yang stood and set her sister down on her feet.

"I'm gonna take a shower first," Ruby looked down at herself, her hair was matted down with tears and her face was still all red and puffy. They both laughed and she headed for the shower. She stopped at the door and turned back, "Do you think they have any cookies?"

"Oh they better." Yang flashed Ruby a smile and she swung the door shut with a giggle. Yang waited for the water to start up and then let her smile drop. Seeing Ruby like that had been so hard, it had been years since one of her nightmares had gotten to her that badly and it was Yang's fault that this had happened. No matter what Ruby said Yang knew that if she had been around more these last two weeks that Ruby wouldn't have been reduced to such a state by one of her dreams. She decided right then and there that she would have to talk to Nora about this, no matter how much fun she was having with her, her sister came first and she needed to be there for her. She was sure Nora would understand. This would of course mean that they got less alone time together but that could always wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - That's it folks, the second half of the weekend double shot. I want to thank everybody for reading so much yesterday, it was this story's second best viewership day ever, right after the "One Small Step" chapter. I'm really enjoying talking to everybody who has been reading so far, you're ideas and thoughts on the characters are awesome. Thanks to Boombox94 I may have to write a "You Done Fucked Up" (MagnhildXCardin's Knees) story unless "He's Outta Here" already counts as that.
> 
> I know this chapter departs from the usual Fluffy romance goodness, but it's important to check in on the other parts of Yang's life as the story progresses. Every chapter matters in the long run I promise. I didn't have a plan for this story from the outset but as it has gained popularity and with the comments I've been getting from everyone I have decided on a path for it to take and have pretty much everyone's stories ironed out at this point. From here on out the story will be bouncing around between chapters that focus on Yang and Nora and their Collateral Damage adorableness and then Yang and the couple's interactions with the other members of Team RWBY and Team JNPR like the two from this weekend.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, I hope you continue to enjoy it. Also, "Friends and Loved Ones" continues to move forward and is right on track.
> 
> -Zach


	13. Scaredy Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's check in with Blake, see how that's going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang burst into the room carrying Nora bridal style. Their laughter thundered off the walls of the small room and the bang of the door closing resounded in the previously quiet sleeping area. Yang spun around to face the interior and was immediately faced with the rather perturbed face of her Faunus partner.

“Oh hey Blake,” Yang lifted the still giggling Nora a little to indicate her presence, “Look who’s back.” Blake nodded her head and gave them a slight smile. Yang set Nora down and hugged her hard, “I’m so glad you’re back.” She leaned down and gave Nora a slow kiss and then resigned to just holding her hands.

“Of course I’m back, I was only gone one night silly.” Nora poked Yang in the forehead playfully and looked at the beds for the first time since entering the room, “Yang?”

“Yeah?” Yang was still just watching her, not noticing where she was looking.

“This is the best.” Nora let go of Yang’s hands and ran towards Ruby and Weiss’s bunks. She jumped and threw herself spread eagle at the hanging mattress, landing in a giggling heap on the bed and rolling around playfully wrapping herself up in the covers. Yang laughed and made her way over to the bed, but didn’t climb in to join her.

“Oh yeah, that was Ruby’s idea on our first night here.” Nora stopped rolling and found Yang’s violet eyes with a smile, “Pretty great right?”

“Are you kidding? This is awesome!” Nora leaned forward and kissed Yang’s forehead, “I don’t think Ren and Pyrrha would ever be okay with it though.”

“Well that’s their loss,” Yang held out her arms to Nora, “Now come on, that’s Ruby’s bed.” Nora smiled and flung her arms and legs outward, disentangling herself from the covers and swung herself out into Yang’s waiting arms. Yang caught her around waist, holding her so that her face was pressed into Nora’s midsection. She nuzzled her nose against Nora’s firm abs before setting the giggling girl down.

“So Blake, anything happen with Sun while I was gone?” Blake looked slowly up from her book at the two, a nervous look on her face.

“Well, uhh,” she toyed with corner of her hardback, “not really,” her head fell, “no.” Nora’s smile fell slightly and she walked over to Blake’s bed.

“Can I sit?” Nora held her hand out towards the large amount of empty bed, Blake nodded and coiled her legs in closer to herself to make way for the redhead. Nora plopped herself down on the mattress and put a hand on Blake’s knees, Yang followed her over and sat at the end of the bunk. Blake closed her book completely and set it on the shelf next to her. “So what happened?” Nora gave her a reassuring smile.

“Nothing really,” Blake looked off to the side of the room as she continued, “I sent him a message like you said, that I wanted to hang out and go do something.” Nora giggled and Blake looked back to her, worried.

“You didn’t wait long,” Nora gave her a reassuring smile.

“Blake? Wait around? No that’s not really her thing. She’s an action girl.” Yang smiled at her partner.

“Should I have waited?” worry was in Blake’s voice now.

“No, no it’s fine. So did you two hang out?” Nora turned sideways and crossed her legs on Blake’s bed, putting her back to Yang.

“Yeah, he said okay and met me here at school. We went down to town together and had some drinks. Then we-” Blake began to blush at the memory of spending time with Sun but fell back to her usual neutrality when Yang interrupted.

“Woah oh, Blakey, you two went out for drinks?” Yang leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Nora’s middle and resting her chin on the redhead’s shoulder.

“No, no no no we didn’t get drinks.” Blake pulled her knees up to her chest and put her hands out in front of herself, trying to physically ward off her partner’s implications, “I meant that we got tea at this little rooftop cafe.” Yang’s smile fell and she slumped into Nora’s back.

“It’s okay, just ignore her.” Nora smiled and Blake eased a little.

“Trust me I try,” Blake let her knees slide back down a little and gave Nora a nervous smile, “So we went to get tea and just sat and talked for a long time. I tried to say things about us, I tried to talk about us doing things together or going places and he was really excited about what I said. But, he never did anything about it. He never asked to actually do one of the things or made ideas of his own.” Blake’s smile faded and she looked off to the side, “We came back on the airbus and walked back to the dorms, he didn’t even walk me all the way to the room, he left after we got to the building and just went jogging off.” Blake turned back to Nora with a resigned look in her eyes, “Maybe he doesn’t actually like me?”

“Blake don’t think like that,” Nora playfully pushed at her knee. Yang laughed and moved around the side so she was lying on the bed with her head by Blake, propped up on the pillows.

“Yeah Blake, we told you, you’re beautiful, you’re crazy talented and super smart, you’re so driven to become a huntress,” Yang smiled at her partner, “He should feel lucky you’re even interested in him.”

“But maybe he just isn’t.” she trailed off and looked back and forth between her friends, slowly a look of horror and fear crept its way onto her face, “Oh no, what if he has a girlfriend back home? And I’ve been making all these advances on him and he’s already seeing someone.” Blake dropped her face into her hands, “Oh I feel so dumb.”

“There’s no way he has a girlfriend,” Yang made a pfft noise, “If he did he wouldn’t have wanted to go to the dance with you right?” Blake picked her head up out of her hands and met Yang’s confident gaze.

“Yeah see, if he wasn’t into you then he wouldn’t have put on that tie and buttoned up his shirt for the first time ever.” Nora laughed, trying to ease Blake’s tension a little.

“I guess, but he could have changed his mind.” Blake shook her head back and forth in frustrated confusion, “This is so hard.” Nora rested a hand on Blake’s leg.

“Blake, Blake it’s okay.” Blake stopped shaking her head and raised her eyes to Nora’s this time, “How do you think I felt after Yang and I went to the bar and she didn’t say anything?” Nora glanced across to Yang and then back to the brunette. “When I kissed her, it was probably like, mostly that awesome Mistralian drink that even let me do it. The next day when I woke up I couldn’t believe what I’d done. I didn’t even know if Yang was gay or anything and I just went for it. I felt dumb too.” Yang reached forward and rubbed Nora’s knee reassuringly, Nora gave her a smile and kept going, “But, I talked to Ren and he told me to just wait and see. He said I had put myself out there really blatantly and that either Yang would get the hint and respond or she wouldn’t. So that’s what I did, I just waited and look what happened.” Nora smiled and picked up Yang’s hand, kissing the knuckles gently. Blake’s worried expression faded to an easy smile, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, centering herself.

“Okay, but how do I make it that obvious? I’m not gonna kiss him.” Blake’s face flushed and she fidgeted with the blanket under her. Nora and Yang both laughed, neither could imagine Blake doing something as spontaneous as Nora had done to Yang.

“Well you just have to show him that that’s the kind of relationship you’re looking for. That you wanna be more than friends you know?” Nora stifled her giggle and tried to be serious for her friend, but Blake didn’t look convinced.

“You could always just ask him out, I know he’ll say yeah.” Yang put on her familiar ear to ear smile, trying to lend her shy partner even a piece of her confidence, “It’s not like the guy has to be the one to ask right?” Blake fidgeted with the blanket again, running the hem between her thumb and finger.

“But, I want him to put himself out there, not me,” she looked down at her lap, “I guess I’m kind of scared.” Yang recoiled in playful but real surprise.

“Why are you scared Blake? He already knows your a Faunus right? And he’s a Faunus too. You know he isn’t with the White Fang or anything, you know he likes girls, you know he’s pretty cute.” Yang gave her partner a devious smile.

“Yeah, but he’s so confident all the time and he is really cute. What if he doesn't like me because I’m so shy, or because he already has so many other girls coming after him? What if I’m not good enough for him?”

“You’re so much more than good enough for him, you’re better than he deserves. You just ask him out and he’ll fall all over himself trying to yes fast enough.” Yang’s playful smile become a look of determination.

“What if we were there to support you? Like, so you knew that we had your back?” Nora tried to cheer her back up, giving her knee a gentle squeeze.

“How would you do that? I can’t very well meet him on the roof with you two waiting in the background.”

“Blake, you have to stop reading all those romance novels.” Yang laughed gently.

“Well what’s your idea then?” Blake turned on Yang, frustration in her voice now.

“Why don’t we do a double date?” the blonde completely ignored Blake’s rising anger and flashed a convincing smile.

“That’s a great idea.” Nora bounced in her spot, “Being out with another couple would show him what you’re looking for and it would be kinda obvious what the whole point is. You probably won’t even have to ask him at that point. If he doesn’t pick up on that signal then he’s worse than Jaune.” They all laughed and Blake’s anger cooled.

“Do you think he’ll want to go out again though? We just went out yesterday.” Blake looked worriedly between the two on her bed.

“Oh yeah, if you ask him then there’s no way he’ll say no.” Yang jabbed Blake in the shoulder playfully.

“This is so exciting,” Nora jumped up from her seat, “I’m gonna go shower, I’m still all gross from my mission.” Blake looked down at where Nora had been sitting on her bed and then back to the redhead.

“Did you just get back?” Blake asked in surprise.

“Oh yeah, I met them at the landing and carried her right back here.” Yang slid around Blake to get off the bed.

“She practically jumped up on the airship to grab me.” Nora giggled and Yang finally managed to wiggle her way off the bed. She immediately swept Nora up in her arms, burying her nose in the girl’s hair. They both laughed and Yang eased Nora back down.

“Okay, do you want Sun to meet us there or should we all ride down together?” Nora asked Blake who was still sitting on her bed.

“Well, we can’t all fit on my bike…” Yang faded off in confusion.

“We don’t have to ride your bike everywhere Yang.” Nora stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend.

“Yeah I guess.” Yang said regretfully, disappointed to be missing a chance to ride her bike with Nora, “Why don’t we all just ride the airship down together then?” Yang looked back to her partner.

“Actually, I think it would be better if you two met Sun and I there. That way if uhh…” Blake fell silent, not able to vocalize wanting time alone with the boy.

“Oh yeah, so you guys can make out after the date. Totally.” Yang leaned over and kissed Nora on the forehead. Blake blushed hard at Yang’s suggestion but said nothing to deny it.

“Alright I’ll go clean up. You let Sun know already.” Nora gave Yang another kiss on the cheek and disappeared out the door. Blake picked up her scroll from beside her book on the shelf and began messaging the Faunus boy.

“I’m just gonna go wash my face real quick,” Yang made for the bathroom.

“Oh no,” Blake lifted her hand away from her scroll, extending a single finger that halted Yang in her place, “You are going to wash this blanket because your girlfriend just rubbed all over my bed in her dirty Grimm fighting, travel stained clothes.” Yang laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head.

“I guess I should probably wash Rube’s stuff too huh?” Blake just leveled a knowing look at her and returned to her scroll.

* * *

 

Yang swung the bike in alongside some other vehicles parked outside the little bistro. She looked at the muted exterior and the little garden boxes hanging from the windows, not really her type of place but this wasn’t about her and Nora, they were here for Blake. Yang smiled as she felt Nora’s hand slide off of her torso, the redhead easing herself of the bike behind her. Yang stood and kicked the legs out to hold the bike upright and removed her helmet. She watched as Nora did the same, lightly shaking her short bob of hair out, trying to correct the damage the helmet had done. Yang laughed and checked herself in one of the bike’s mirrors, doing her best to fix her hair and make herself into something Nora would want to look at. She heard Nora laugh behind her and then felt those strong little hands snake their way back around her waist.

“You look great, stop fussing,” Nora gently kissed the back of her ear and Yang fell to pieces.

“Do you think they’re here yet?” Yang turned and put her arms around Nora as well.

“With how long you took, they’re probably done eating already.” Nora laughed and pulled easily out of Yang’s grip towards the door, “C’mon.” Nora beckoned Yang forward with a finger but the blonde had to turn and secure their helmets first.

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” Yang locked the storage area and hurried after her girlfriend.

They entered the small store, a few tables sat pushed most of the way to the edges of the room with lots of space in between. There were no waiters or waitresses, just a counter at the front with a display of different lunch meats and breads and single cashier.

“Do you see them anywhere?” Yang looked quickly around the store and couldn’t find her stealthy partner or the obnoxious monkey boy she was fawning over.

“Nope, I wonder if they have outside seats or something.” Nora walked over to the counter and Yang followed easily behind. They asked the cashier if there were any other seats, which he said there were not and if anyone that looked like Blake or Sun had come in which he said they had not.

“Well I guess they aren’t here yet.” Yang gave Nora an easy smile, “And you thought I took too long.” Nora gave her a joking shove and a playful smirk.

“Maybe it’s because you drove so fast, we definitely shouldn’t have beat the airship here.” Yang smirked back and feigned innocence.

“Well, I just didn’t want us to be late.” Nora slid in beside Yang and put her arm around her.

“And we aren’t. Mission accomplished.” Nora gave Yang’s waist a tight squeeze. The couple headed outside to wait for Blake and Sun but were stopped by the door when it came swinging suddenly inward. Yang reeled backwards away from the entry and caught herself a few steps back, eyes locked on another tall, muscled blonde.

“Oh sorry Yang,” Sun held the door open for Blake, “We were late and it’s kinda my fault so I was in a hurry.” Sun laughed easily and whipped his tail about lazily behind him. Blake nodded to Yang and Nora, hands clenched nervously in front of her.

“Why were you late? Doing anything you shouldn’t be?” Nora gave Sun a mischievous smirk.

“What? No, definitely not.” Sun looked back and forth between Nora and Blake, “I don’t steal stuff anymore really,” he shook his head defensively.

“I don’t think that what she meant buddy,” Yang shook her head, maybe he was as dense as Jaune, “But you’re here now so come on, I’m starving.” Yang walked away, towards the counter, tugging Nora along behind her. Sun shook his head in confusion and swept his hands toward the counter, wanting Blake to go first. Blake bowed her head ever so slightly in gratitude and walked slowly forward, giving Sun a chance to fall in next to her.

The four ordered their food, two entrees each for Yang and Nora, a small healthy sandwich and a tea for Blake and long sub for Sun. They found the one of the restaurant's few four person tables and sat in the chairs around the small circle. Yang had been hoping that the place had booths, that would force Sun and Blake next to each other across from her and Nora, making the whole double date, two couples thing much more obvious for the foolish boy, but this would have to do. Nora scooted her chair over closer to Yang, putting them right next one another and separating the other pair from them by a little.

“So how was your mission Nora?” Sun set his tray down and started unwrapping the sub.

“It was pretty great, we got to fight these King Taijitus together. They aren’t that tough really, just when there’s a bunch of them it gets pretty crazy.” Yang dug into her food, happy to let Nora babble, “So we got a bunch of them and made sure the perimeter defenses were still up and just headed back. It was pretty fun though.” Nora grinned and dug into her own food. Sun seemed taken aback by her nonchalant attitude, King Taijitus were no pushovers but Yang knew that JNPR wasn’t either. She liked to know that other people thought her girlfriend was just as impressive as she did.

“Wow, that’s pretty crazy. Did you have a professor go with you?” Sun was really stunned by all this.

“No, not this time. It was just one day, not a huge deal.” Nora waved a dismissive hand at him and returned to her food.

“So what have you been up to Sun? Liking Vale?” Yang had to try and get this back on track for Blake.

“Oh yeah it’s great here. The food is so good and everyone’s so nice.” Sun laughed and smiled over at Blake for a moment.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it.” Blake spoke for the first time since arriving.

“Well I wouldn’t be if you weren’t showing me around.” Sun looked over to the other Faunus, “You really know how to show a guy a good time.” he smiled.

“What have you two been up to?” Nora gave them that devious smirk again. Blake blushed and Sun laughed it off.

“Nothing like that Nora come on. But I mean, on like my second day here Blake took me to the docks and got me in the middle of some huge terrorist plot, then I got to break up a White Fang rally and fight a giant robot on the freeway and,” he stretched the ‘and’ to indicate how much more there was to Blake than breaking up terrorist plots, “she knows all the best restaurants too. I mean, I didn’t even realize this place was a store,” he waved his hands around to indicate the restaurant they were in, “I thought it was like a little cottage or something.” Blake smiled and took a sip of her tea, trying to hide the heat on her face.

“Yang why do we never go on super fun adventures like that?” Nora turned a peeved look on her blonde, “See that’s what fun couples do.”

“What? You got to knock someone out the very first time we hung out. We weren’t even dating yet.” Yang spat out defensively, “It’s your turn to take me on an adventure.” Nora’s mock anger faded to a contemplative look.

“Alright then, I’ll think of something just you wait.” she tapped her finger on her chin thoughtfully, “But if I do, then you have to give me pancakes after.”

“Does pancakes mean something else?” Sun quirked an eyebrow at the pair.

“No,” Yang sighed and shook her head in defeat, “She means actual pancakes.” Nora laughed triumphantly and Yang returned to her food.

“Well I for one-” Sun was cut off by the sound of Nora’s scroll ringing.

“I’m sorry, gimme just one second, it’s Ren.” Nora scooted her chair back and dashed outside to take the call.

“So Sun, how long are you here? Are you going home after the Vytal Festival?” Yang took a bite of her sandwich to try and make her question seem as innocent as possible.

“I don’t know really. It depends how the tournament goes. The ones who do really well get to stay here for a little to train with all of you. Apparently Beacon’s a pretty big deal.” Sun smiled and Yang leaned back in her chair, happy to take the praise.

“I mean, look at us. It is training some of the most talented, responsible Huntresses in the world.” she pointed to Blake, “Just look at my partner, have you ever seen someone fight like her?” Blake coughed a little and tried not to choke on her sandwich. Nora chose that moment to come barging back into the restaurant.

“Oohhh, I’m so sorry guys. We’ve gotta go.” Yang looked to her with concern, “I totally totally forgot, I have to go to the mission debriefing meeting thing with Professor Goodwitch and my team.” she clenched her fists and stamped a foot in frustration, “Stupid meetings.” Yang laughed and shook her head, standing up from the table.

“Okay, well some of us are super responsible,” Yang laughed and wrapped their food back up. Sun went to stand but she put a hand out to stop him, “No, no you sit. You two stay, I’ll just drive Nora back, no biggy. We drug you all the way down here, you might as well enjoy it.” Blake exhaled in relief, trying her best to hide it from Sun.

“Oh okay, are you sure? I mean the whole point was to catch up wasn’t it?” Sun looked very confused.

“Yeah but you barely got here, we can catch up later. I’m so sorry I forgot.” Nora giggled nervously and took the food from Yang. The big blonde girl ran over to the counter and grabbed a bag for them to put the sandwiches in and helped Nora fit all the food in.

“We’ll see you two back at school.” Yang gave them a wave and headed for the door.

“Yeah, don’t stay out too late.” Nora winked and followed Yang out. They got outside and closed the door behind them and Nora ran over to the bike, “Oh I can’t believe I forgot, and we were supposed to be here for Blake too.”

“Relax, I’ll get you back in time,” Yang accepted her helmet from Nora and swung a leg over the bike, “and we did plenty for Blake, she’s gotta handle this one on her own.” Nora wrapped her arms around Yang’s waist once she had secured her helmet.

“Okay, okay, now hurry. I can’t have Goodwitch, Pyrrha and Ren made at me.” Nora squeezed Yang hard as the blonde backed the bike out and revved the engine hard. A sharp squeal of tire on pavement and a roar of the engine echoed off the walls of the surrounding businesses and they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so there was a little glitch getting Sunday's chapter up on time, sorry about that. I'm not sure if it was AO3 or if my silly mountain internet was being dumb but I just couldn't get on the site. So, All Our Days went up a little late. But, today's chapter is up in plenty of time so please enjoy.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	14. Friends and Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang's gets some bonding time with her team and deals with some pent up anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang stooped low and retrieved her dropped fork from the floor, she turned it over in her hand, inspecting it for any obvious signs of dirt or grime and saw none so she returned it to her tray. She looked about the cafeteria, scanning for anyone she knew, anyone to sit with. She and Nora were well into their third week as a couple and hadn’t spent a lunch period apart that entire time. Today Nora had some things she had to do with her team so Yang was on her own for lunch. It wasn’t that she felt lost without her, or even uncomfortable in the absence of the energetic redheaded girl. It was just that she had slipped so easily into their routine that now being out of it felt slightly alien to her.

Usually they would grab their food and rush to the nearest spot of table they could find to wolf it down before any of their other friends arrived. That would leave the rest of the period open for discussion and chatter amongst themselves and any friends who had the period free to come spend with them. Lately, it meant that they could sometimes sneak away to a secluded corner or a luckily empty dorm room to have some personal time with each other, to ease the tension that built between them all day long. They didn’t do it often Yang thought, only twice this week. Then she checked herself and realized that it was only Wednesday, they had snuck off together every day this week. Yang shook her head with a gentle laugh and looked for her little sister and team leader, she needed to spend more time with her.

A quick scan of the room revealed Ruby seated with Weiss off to one side of the hall, they were sitting with one another and chatting amicably. She hadn’t so much seen her diminutive little sister, as much as she had seen the platinum ponytail of her partner bouncing back and forth while she talked. That girl’s hair was visible from a mile away, not great for sneaking up on opponents. Watching the two talk Yang thought they looked happy. Ruby had said she was still having trouble bonding with Weiss, but if the two of them were sitting and talking like that, it had to be a good sign. For a moment she considered not interrupting the two, not wanting to intrude on their bonding, but then decided that it couldn’t hurt. They were one big team after all and she needed to make nice with Weiss almost as much as Ruby did, so she headed over.

“What’s up shorties?” Yang tossed her over loaded tray down, sending her fork clattering back to the floor and flashed them both a smile.

“Honestly Yang, do you ever behave with dignity.” Weiss turned her icy stare on the blonde.

“You dropped your fork.” Ruby reached down and scooped the utensil up from where it had fallen beneath the table and handed it to her sister.

“Oh thanks Rubes.” Yang took the fork happily and speared a piece of meat, shoving it into her mouth. Weiss’s mouth practically hit the table in shock.

“That was just on the floor. The dirty floor where all of our shoes go.” Weiss shuddered slightly in disgust, “And you’re eating with it?” Yang’s eyes opened a little wider and she regarded Weiss with surprise. She swallowed the bite in her mouth.

“What? It’s just the floor.” Yang chuckled and looked at the fork, “It’s not even dirty see?” she held it out and rotated it around for Weiss to see.

“This floor is absolutely disgusting, I even have trouble eating in here because of it. Just look.” Weiss indicated the rather shiny laminate floor beneath them, “Think about how many dirty shoes and combat boots trod on this, and I have never seen the custodial staff properly clean it.”

“Relax Princess. It’s just a little dirt.” Yang tried to give Weiss a smile but the girl shot her a disdainful glare.

“I will never understand how you two made it this far without me.” Weiss raised herself from her seat and strode away.

“Where do you think she’s going?” Ruby watched her partner leave and then turned back to her the table.

“I dunno.” Yang looked after the heiress and then returned her attention to her sister with a chuckle, “How have you been Rubes? You two look like you’re getting along better.” Yang smiled and began eating again, adopting a pace that would let her respond without spitting food all over the place or mumbling unintelligibly through a mass of unchewed goodness.

“Oh yeah, we’ve been training together a lot lately and I think she’s starting to see all the work I’ve been putting in.” Ruby smiled hard, “Plus she had an issue with the actuator on her rapier the other day and I took it apart for her and fixed it and she said the revolver’s rotation is even smoother now.” Ruby’s pride in her work was evident in her grin, she was nothing if not good with weapons.

“That’s awesome sis’, I’m glad the Ice Queen’s warming up to you.” Yang chuckled and Ruby let out a little giggle, there was the smile Yang knew so well.

“I am not an Ice Queen.” Weiss stomped her foot from where she stood off to Ruby’s side.

“Oh I’m sorry Snow Flake,” Yang said sarcastically, “I didn’t mean to offend the royalty.” Weiss jerked her hand forward, holding a fork out to Yang.

“Here, I got you a clean fork so you don’t have to eat like an animal.” Yang reached forward and accepted the fork gratefully from Weiss.

“Aww shucks, thanks. I could almost kiss you.” Yang laughed and Weiss turned away in indignation.

“Oooh Yang. I’m gonna tell Nora,” Ruby stuck her tongue out at her older sister with a giggle.

“Nora knows she’s got me by the hair, don’t worry.” Yang laughed and switched the new fork to her right hand, leaving the old one discarded to the side. Ruby gasped at her expression.

“That bad huh?” Ruby asked as Weiss retook her seat.

“Yeah,” Yang chuckled a little nervously, “She got me hard.” Yang smiled and looked down at her food happily, “I don’t even know how it happened, I just sorta fell for her.” Yang looked back up at the pair across from her.

“Are you hiding a secret romantic in there?” Weiss craned her head back and forth, as if trying to see something Yang was hiding, “Because if so, you’re doing a pretty good job of it.” Ruby laughed more openly and playfully pushed at Weiss’s shoulder.

“My sister is plenty romantic, didn’t you hear she and Nora are trying to help Blake out with her man problems?” Ruby looked back to Yang, hoping for some sort of confirmation.

“Where did you hear that?” Yang gave her little sister an inquisitive eye under which Ruby withered.

“Umm… uhhh… no where.” Ruby’s eyes darted up to meet Yang’s which were still boring into her and then back down to her lap, “From Jaune.” Yang sighed in realization.

“Nora can not keep a secret at all.” Yang laughed in resignation, “Oh well, I guess the cat’s outta the bag,” Yang shot them both with little finger guns and wiggled her eyebrows, Ruby sighed and shook her head and Weiss failed to suppress a groan.

“Yang, are you ever serious?” Weiss looked up from pinching her nose to meet Yang’s jovial grin.

“I am very, extremely serious about two things.” Yang leveled a grimace at Weiss and held up two fingers, “My hair,” she pulled back on one finger with her opposite hand, “and eventually finishing this lunch,” she pulled back the other finger and Weiss groaned again. Yang fell to devouring her food and Weiss turned to Ruby with a resigned shake of her head.

“So what’s going on with Blake?” Ruby had returned to her usually over energetic self watching Yang and her partner joke with each other.

“Oh, just that she has a crush on Sun, that Faunus boy that helped us fight the Atlas mech. She was having trouble asking him out or whatever and so she asked Yang and Nora for help. They tried taking them out for a like double date to hint to Sun that Blake liked him but they had to leave really early so I don’t know if it worked.” Ruby plowed through the entire explanation in a single breath and then sat there with a little smile on her face, happy to divulge a secret.

“Ruby, thasch shoo not cool.” Yang muffled out of her full mouth. Ruby’s little smile faded again to worry and then back to a smile when Weiss rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I wouldn’t tell a soul Ruby. We are all one team so we should all know, but I promise this secret will stay with me.” Weiss gave Ruby a rare warm smile that made Ruby brighten up even more. Ruby pulled out her scroll.

“Weiss can I take a picture with you?” Ruby slid in beside her without waiting for an answer and lifted the scroll. She hadn’t unlocked it yet and Weiss’s eyes fell directly on the time displayed on the screen.

“Ruby. We are gonna be late.” Weiss practically screamed in shock. Ruby’s eyes flew open even wider than usual as she saw the time as well.

“Ahh I totally forgot we have to be in Oobleck’s class early today.” Ruby pocketed the scroll and looked down at her and Weiss’s mess from lunch, “I got this, don’t worry, we won’t be late.” Ruby started babbling, doing more to psyche herself up than to reassure Weiss. There was a flash of rose petals and the trash vanished, seconds later Ruby reappeared next to Weiss, “Okay, okay let’s go. Bye Yang.” Ruby grasped Weiss by the wrist and there was another flash of petals that trailed away down the hall. Yang watched the two depart and listened to Weiss’s frantic screams as Ruby towed her along at inhumanly high speed, Yang laughed.

With the goal of bonding a little more with her sister and the continual effort of melting the Ice Queen’s heart a little out of the way Yang breathed a sigh of relief and continued to enjoy her food. She couldn’t believe that Nora had blabbed to her team about Blake’s deal with Sun but figured that in the end it was probably just fine. Yang was sure that everything had gone great between her partner and the boy after they had left, but assuming it had been a secret, she had not had a chance to discuss it with the quiet girl yet. Yang glanced around the cafeteria, she didn’t expect to see anyone, Blake was undoubtedly in the library or hopefully with Sun, and Nora was definitely still busy with her team but it couldn’t hurt to check. She did see the Headmaster, Professor Ozpin roaming between the tables, giving polite nods to students who realized he was there and just quietly making his way around. That was weird, he didn't usually come around but it could be to check in on the transfer students, or maybe something had drawn his attention down here. Who knew what that man was thinking. Yang kept looking around and found one of the last things she was in the mood for, Cardin Winchester approaching her table. Yang slid her tray forward slightly and went to stand.

“Well, well, and where’s your ‘girlfriend’?” the emphasis he put on girlfriend put Yang on edge. She knew the boy was rude and an imbecile, but what was he thinking coming up to her like this? He knew she would floor him with a single blow if she felt like it, and insulting Nora was the fastest way to get her in a dangerous mood. “Is she off in detention for not shutting up in class again?”

“Don’t even start with me Cardin.” Yang leveled an angry gaze at the boy, she had been having such a nice lunch and she was not in the mood to deal with him right now.

“Oh come on, I just wanna watch you two make out a little.” he made kissy faces at her, “Or do you wanna put on a show for me in the gym again?” Yang’s blood boiled and she clenched her fists.

“You disgusting, little, pervert.” Yang could feel the heat rising in her limbs and she knew her eyes must be hazing over with red. She felt her aura building up in her fists subconsciously, preparing to knock the foolish boy’s head clear across the cafeteria.

“What’s wrong? Are you getting mad?” Cardin jutted his face out towards her, mockingly, “Not gonna hit me are you?” He recoiled in mock fear, putting his hands in front of his face and then laughing at her, “Go for it.” Yang squeezed her right hand and felt the knuckles pop under the pressure, that was it. Her eyes widened as she prepared to leap over the table and destroy the fool but then she saw Professor Ozpin, watching the two of them curiously. She couldn’t beat him down right in front of the headmaster. Yang took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She closed her eyes and forced her aura down, trying to channel as much Ren as she could. She inhaled again and slowly let it out, opening her eyes and easing her fists loose.

“Just screw off Cardin, you’re not worth my time.” Yang slowly returned to her seat, keeping her eyes down. She knew that if she looked up and saw that smug face of his again she wouldn’t be able to stop herself, she wasn’t sure how she had managed it the first time.

“Aww it’s okay. You’re just all soft now ‘cause you’re not with a man.” Cardin pounded his chest in what Yang assumed was supposed to be pride, “C’mon, I can show what it feels like if you forgot.” Cardin leaned forward and planted both hands on the table, tilting his broad shoulders across the surface, towards Yang. That was all she could take, Yang jumped to her feet and felt her aura return with a fury. The feel of it rushing to fill her limbs as familiar as waking up and much more exhilarating. Whatever Ozpin thought of her, she didn’t care, she was gonna put Cardin down, now. She heard the familiar crunching noise of knuckles connecting with cheekbone and looked up to see Cardin laid out on the floor opposite her. The shock and surprise cooled her anger instantly and she turned her head to see who had punched him out. Standing there was a beautiful, grinning redhead, smile stretched from ear to ear and chuckling happily to herself.

“Oh he deserved that,” Nora clenched both fists and flexed her arms in front of her in excitement. She looked over to Yang and her smile grew, “Sorry, I know you probably wanted to do that but I just had to.” Yang laughed but then caught sight of Ozpin over Nora’s shoulder. He was approaching their group, no hurry in his step, but moving with definite purpose. He had his cane clenched in both hands behind him, held horizontally out to both sides. Yang’s laughter turned to a frown and Nora cocked her head to one side, “Oh I’m sorry. You can punch him next time, or uhh I’ll still take you on an adventure but you don’t have to make me pancakes, or I’ll make you pancakes except I don’t know how really, Ren always makes them.” Nora started trying to rattle off as many ways to appease Yang as she could until Yang pointed solemnly behind her and she turned, “Oh,” Professor Ozpin reached the pair of girls, and the unconscious boy, and looked slowly at each member of the group.

“Miss Xiao Long, you did very well controlling your anger. I saw what was happening and frankly, I was worried for Mr. Winchester.” he turned to Nora, “Ms. Valkyrie, you stood up for someone you care about and acted without hesitation, that is very commendable.” he inclined his head and gave her a slight smile. Then the Professor twirled his cane in an easy circle and poked at Cardin’s midsection with the end. Cardin groaned and sat up slowly, shaking his head and rubbing a hand on his face where a bruise was already starting to form. “Mr. Winchester, you acted quite deplorably and were then unable to defend your actions. You require much more discipline and training if you ever hope to become a true Huntsman.” Cardin raised his other hand and began to retort but Professor Ozpin turned deftly back to the girls and he fell silent, “Ladies, enjoy the rest of your day and do remember to enjoy every moment together. You’re headed for a dangerous life and need to cherish those close to you.” He gave them both a polite nod and, twirled his cane back against his back and strode away peacefully. Yang and Nora were both grinning and watching him leave.

“Wow, that was soo cool.” Nora raised her fists to her chin and trembled with excitement, “Can you believe that?” she spun to face Yang.

“Yeah, I guess he’s a pretty cool guy. I mean he did let Ruby in two years ahead and all but that was awesome.” Yang smiled and looked away from the departing Headmaster just in time to see Nora flying towards her. She threw her arms out and caught the airborne redhead as she came vaulting over the table with a giggle.

“I mean it, you can punch him next time.” she gave Yang a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Oh you can try.” Cardin had staggered to his feet again and apparently failed to lose any of his bravado. Yang and Nora both swiveled their heads and furrowed their eyebrows at him. He shrank a little under the combined gaze.

“Leave right now before I come over there and make you.” Yang let her aura loose again, still bottled up from her earlier anger. The visible effect was immediate, her signature glowing hair and a sudden distinct red tint to her eyes flashing into existence. Cardin backed down and turned with a flick of his head.

“Whatever, you got a lucky punch.” he walked away from the pair, shoving his hands in his pockets. They watched him leave and Yang slowly let her anger fade.

“Hey Yang, you’re uhh, you’re kinda squishing me.” Nora squeaked out from where Yang was holding her. Yang looked down and saw that she had indeed crushed the girl against her in her anger, flexing her arms and pulling Nora tight against her in her fit of rage.

“Oh,” she chuckled slightly and loosened her grip but didn’t let her go, “Sorry.” she laughed again kissed Nora on the forehead and then set her down.

“It’s okay, I kinda liked you all Yangry.” Nora poked her in the nose.

“I think I’m rubbing off on you too much.” Yang laughed and bit playfully at her finger as she pulled it back, Nora giggled.

“It could never be too much.” Nora wrapped Yang in a tight embrace and Yang squeezed her back, “Do you have any food left? I’m starving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have now planned this story out through its end. I have a goal in mind, but it will probably end up being longer than that because I like this story so much and always want to write more of it. That aside, I will start publishing "Friends and Loved Ones" near the end of this story so watch out for that.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you thought.
> 
> Thanks  
> Zach


	15. Everyone's Hallway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their PDA is getting excessive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang breathed hard as she pushed Nora up against the wall. She slid her hands around the slender girl’s back and pulled herself into her. She felt Nora’s hands reach up around her shoulders and pull her down, making it easier for the redhead to press her lips against Yang’s. Their tongues were jostling back and forth, pressing into one another’s mouths as they vigorously devoured each other in their passion. Yang really wished they had one of the dorm rooms to themselves but they had no such luck tonight. It was a Friday and they had been out late walking the campus together before coming back to the dorm, but saying goodbye in the hallway almost always lead to something like this. Yang knew they were both holding back from wanting to do more, part of that was because they often found themselves in these situations in quite public spaces, the other was because they had not been together that long and were both still furtively testing the waters of this relationship. But, they were both very physical people and excited each other very much. It was a balancing act they were playing.

Yang lifted Nora up off the ground and the redhead made a little noise of surprise but then wrapped her legs around Yang’s waist and pulled her in. Now, Nora’s head was higher than Yang’s. She pulled away slightly and gazed down at Yang’s shining violet eyes and smiled.

“Ohh Yang, you are just so much fun.” she planted three kisses in a line on her forehead, nose and lips and then pulled away again, “I knew I liked you but the way you make me feel is just incredible.” Yang stretched up and dribbled a tiny line of kisses along Nora’s neck and she giggled with delight. Then they both stopped when they heard a low muted cough from a few yards down the hallway. Yang swung her head around, leaning back slightly to see around Nora and saw Pyrrha Nikos, Team JNPR’s other redhead but perhaps the furthest from Nora’s personality. Yang grinned and blushed in embarrassment and eased Nora down to the floor. She could hear Nora laughing nervously beside her and assumed she shared her deep red blush.

“Oh, hey, sorry Pyrrha.” Yang could still taste Nora’s lips as she spoke. 

“Oh, no that’s quite alright. I’m sorry I intruded.” Pyrrha glanced at the floor nervously, she didn’t seem able to meet their eyes.

“Nope, nope definitely our fault,” Nora laughed a little easier, “I mean it’s not like we were somewhere private.”

“Ahh yes, it is the hallway. I was just..erm… well I was just trying to get back to the room.” Pyrrha was sporting a small blush and Yang cocked her head to try and see the Mistralian girl’s face a little better. Nora pulled out her scroll to check the time.

“Oh wow, it’s getting pretty late.” she looked back to Pyrrha, “We weren’t keeping you out were we? I’m so sorry Pyrrha.” Nora pushed at Yang’s shoulder, “Yang, this is your fault you know?”

“My fault? How is it my fault that you attacked me in the hallway?” Yang held a hand to her chest in shock.

“Well, you kissed me first so you started it.” Nora stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend.

“It was just a good night kiss. Then you had your hands all in my hair and-” Pyrrha made a small coughing noise, politely reminding them of her presence and Yang stopped herself, “Sorry Pyrrha.” Yang blushed again.

“It’s alright. You really weren’t keeping me out. I was just returning to the dorms when I…” she trailed off, blushing again as she remembered the intense scene she had walked in on, “When I interrupted,” she finally managed to squeeze out.

“Oh, okay.” Yang was surprised that Pyrrha was getting back this late, she knew she had early mornings and had to sleep a lot to maintain her routine.

“We’re still sorry though Pyrrha, we need to control ourselves a little.” Nora was mangling her fingers together in front of her, obviously still embarrassed that they had been caught and then slipped right back into bickering over who started making out with who right in front of the person who had caught them.

“Oh no, you two care for each other so much and you’re very passionate. Perhaps, just find somewhere a little more private.” Pyrrha looked up and truly met their eyes for the first time, “Uhh, so that you aren’t interrupted I mean. You should feel free to do as you will as long as you’re decent. I mean…” Pyrrha trailed off, stuck desperately between telling the couple to love each other openly and wanting them to be modest about their affections.

“It’s okay Pyrrha. We’ll try and be a little more private from now on. But you have to make us a promise.” Yang caught Pyrrha’s cautious eyes and held them tight with her stare.

“Uhhh, what sort of promise. It’s truly alright if you don’t want to-” Nora cut her off mid backpedal.

“Oh no Pyrrha, I think I know what she means and this is something you have to do no matter what.” Nora’s nervousness vanished and she went from mangling her hands together in embarrassment to rubbing them together deviously.

“Yeah Pyrrha, we’ve been watching and waiting and trying to hint at it but he’s just not taking the bait. It’s time to take action.” Yang placed her fists on her hips confidently and Pyrrha shrank a little in apprehension.

“I don’t know what you mean…” she glanced all around the hallway except at the devilish sets of eyes bearing down on her, “Who are you talking about?”

“You know exactly who we mean.” Yang shot down at her.

“So, what are we gonna do about your feelings for Jaune?” Pyrrha jumped at Nora’s mention of his name and came rushing down the hallway, holding a finger to her lips and trying desperately to shush them. Yang and Nora both laughed but did not continue any further. When Pyrrha reached them she started up in a hoarse whisper.

“Please, oh please be quiet. What if he hears you?” Pyrrha was moving her hands in a downward pressing motion, still trying to quiet them even though they weren’t speaking. Yang was right, she had been getting back late because she was trying to avoid any awkward time with her team leader.

“So what if he does, that might-” Yang was cut off by the more spontaneous of the pair.

“HEY JAU-” Pyrrha clamped her hand down over the redhead’s mouth and silenced her. Yang laughed out loud and Pyrrha pulled her hand back with a jerk.

“Oh Nora, I didn’t mean to. I just reacted.” Pyrrha’s eyes were full of concern now, not for them like they were so accustomed to, but for herself, “I don’t know what I’d do if he came out here and knew how I felt.” she looked down at herself, “I’m all gross from working out and my hair’s a mess and I’m just not ready right now.” Pyrrha began nervously running her ponytail through her hands, trying to neaten the perfect, immaculate bloom that was her hair. Even after the most intense workouts or sparring matches the girl seemed to shine, she was invincible and untouchable, truly a class above the rest of them and it showed. 

“Okay Pyrrha, first of all you look great.” Yang leveled her stare at her, “I don’t care if you just ran a double marathon and fought a herd of Deathstalkers you look wonderful.” Pyrrha blushed under the praise and Nora crossed her arms in a pout.

“Well look who’s a sweet talker all of a sudden.” Yang turned on her girlfriend and gave her a rueful eye.

“Oh hush you. You know I think you’re beautiful.” Yang gave her a kidding smile and Nora split into a grin.

“Alright if you say so,” she leaned over and kissed Yang on the cheek.

“If we’re really going to talk about this can we, perhaps, not do it here?” Pyrrha asked pleadingly, “As you saw, anyone could walk up at any time. I would prefer a more secluded space, please.”

“Did you have anywhere in mind?” Yang looked over her shoulder to the Team RWBY dorm room door, “If we go in there you’ll have to hash this out in front of Weiss, Blake and Ruby. That’s not exactly private.” Yang sighed and Nora giggled.

“I think Ruby gossips more than I do.” Yang turned on her girlfriend.

“Yeah but only with the info you give her,” Yang mocked and Nora giggled again.

“It’s not a secret, they went to the dance together. They should already be a couple, she’s just so shy.” Nora grew louder in her defense and Pyrrha made another coughing noise, louder and slightly more pointed this time than before. Yang and Nora both returned their attention to Pyrrha and hung their heads in shame.

“I did have an idea of where we could go. That is, if you are still interested in having this conversation.” Pyrrha regarded them as politely as ever, not a hint of frustration or malice in her voice.

“Yeah yeah we really wanna help you.” Nora lit up with a smile and Pyrrha’s lips curled up slightly.

“C’mon lead the way,” Yang motioned down the hall with her arm, “The sooner we get to it the sooner you can have your man.” Pyrrha blushed slightly and spun around quickly to hide it, walking off down the hall for them to follow.

 

 

Pyrrha led the couple to a secluded fountain under one of the large sweeping arms that came off of Beacon’s main tower. The moon was full and round, showing no visible scarring or evidence of its near destruction. The flawless white circle threw light down on the trio from high in the sky as midnight approached and cast long shadows off of the Headmaster’s tower. They all reached the small clearing and took their seats on a bench that skirted the border between the stone lined path and the grassy field. 

Nora and Yang sat purposefully apart for Pyrrha’s comfort, they would have preferred to sit with Nora in Yang’s lap, but realized that would put Pyrrha in an awkward situation so they did not. Instead they sat on either side of their friend, ensuring that she felt they were there to support her. Pyrrha gave them both an uneasy but warm smile and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly with her hands open and flat on her bare knees.

“So, what do you recommend?” Pyrrha looked back and forth between the two of them expectantly.

“Well Pyrrha, we need to know first. How do you like him?” Yang leaned back against the armrest of the bench.

“Yeah, like we know you are falling all over him, but is it just a crush? Do you just think he’s so dreamy you could die? Are you hoping for lots of alone time with him?” Nora made a suggestive wink and nudged Pyrrha with her elbow. Pyrrha looked at her lap and blushed deeply at the last suggestion and took a moment to contain herself before responding.

“I do think Jaune is quite attractive.” Pyrrha began and Nora smiled hard, “His hair is like a gentle golden wave atop his head, and his eyes are such a piercing blue, it’s like they can see right past all the pretenses and layers I put up and get right to my heart. I feel that when he looks at me and smiles his big, goofy smile, that he is really respecting me for who I am and not what I have accomplished or what I’m capable of.” Yang and Nora both looked to each other over Pyrrha’s downcast head and then back to her.

“This is Jaune, your team leader Jaune, that we’re talking about right?” Yang asked with a hint of humor in her voice.

“Yeah I mean, he’s a great leader and all but he’s just Jaune.” Nora giggled a little but caught it in her throat when Pyrrha raised her eyes.

“He’s so much more than that, at least he is to me. He’s so modest and unassuming. When I met him , he didn’t even know who I was and once he found out, he didn’t care. I have to deal with being Pyrrha Nikos ‘The Invincible Girl’ every single day. But, when I’m with him I’m just me, just Pyrrha.” she sighed, “I can relax and let my guard down because I know that he sees through it anyway. I don’t have to constantly try and uphold an image of who I am around him because I know he doesn’t care. When I’m with Jaune, when we train together or take our meals together or have time apart from Nora and Ren in the dorm room, those are the only times I feel truly relaxed and at peace with myself. He helps me think clearly and gives me the strength to go back out and face the whole world again.” As Pyrrha spoke her hands slowly clenched into fists and she finished with a single tear bubbled up in her eye. She quickly put a hand up to wipe it away and turned her shining emerald eyes back and forth between the shocked faces of her two friends.

“Wow Pyrrha, I didn’t know you felt like that.” Nora reached forward and put a gentle hand on Pyrrha’s knee, “I had no idea it was that hard for you.”

“That’s incredible, you feel that strongly about him?” Yang slid into a more dignified position and regarded Pyrrha seriously.

“I do Yang. That’s how I’ve felt about him for a long time now.” Pyrrha steeled her voice against the tremors in her throat that threatened to break her composure.

“Well dust, we better get you two together like now. I can’t believe that idiot hasn’t seen it yet.” Yang slapped Pyrrha’s back and grinned from ear to ear. Pyrrha’s face lifted slightly and she turned to Nora.

“Oh yeah, we have to make him know right now.” Nora jumped to her feet to run back to the dorm but Yang held out a hand.

“No Nora, come on. If that’s how Pyrrha wanted to do it she would have done it already.” Nora stopped and turned back to her friend and her girlfriend.

“Oh yeah…” she trailed off, “Wait Pyrrha, why haven’t you just told him how you feel yet?” Pyrrha looked back down at her lap and twiddled her thumbs in a slow circle.

“He was interested in Weiss, and I wanted him to be happy so I did my best to help him go after her. Then when he abandoned that, I thought he would see me and how I felt but after the dance nothing changed and I decided he must not be interested in me. I wouldn’t want to expose my feelings for him and have it ruin what we already have. If my relationship with Jaune were to falter I might not be completely able to hold myself together.” Nora sat back down as Pyrrha’s voice weakened, “I’m scared of losing what little of him I already have.”

“You’re not gonna lose him. No matter what, I won’t let you.” Nora grabbed Pyrrha’s shoulder firmly and Pyrrha turned to her, “If he does anything to hurt you, I’ll break his legs off and tie him to your back so you always have him with you.” Nora gave Pyrrha a wide grin and the other redhead couldn’t help but chuckle a little, although it came out somewhere between genuine laughter and a racking sob.

“Now how do you want us to do this?” Yang saw that Pyrrha was recovering a little from her emotional dam breaking and wanted to get as much out of the closed off girl as she could before she sealed back up again. The sadness she had seen in her eyes and the sincerity in her words made Yang want nothing more than to see her and Jaune together. “You don't want to go at it directly but the long game, dropping hints thing isn't working either.”

“Well, I don't have much experience with this. Jaune would be the first boy I have been with.” Pyrrha grew nervous and kicked at the ground, “I don't know what to do.” Nora smiled and squealed with excitement.

“Oh Pyrrha this is gonna be so great. I know exactly what we need to do.” Both Pyrrha and Yang swung their heads up to meet Nora’s excited blue eyes, “We need to get you two out somewhere and force you to act like a couple. Neither of you knows what to do so you just have to go for it.” Yang smiled and Pyrrha shuffled nervously.

“That would be splendid but it seems a bit direct. I don't want to make Jaune do anything he doesn't want to do.” Pyrrha kneaded her hands together.

“No, no not like that Pyrrha. She means like we did for Blake and Sun but way more severe. Jaune is pretty dense so we gotta really drive it home for him.” Yang put one hand on Pyrrha’s balled up fists to stop her frustrated fidgeting, “We go out for a group dinner and sit you with each other. We make sure you have to stand next to each other in line for something. We can fake some sort of breakdown and have you two walk back to Beacon together. We just need to keep throwing you together until he gets the point.” Pyrrha stopped fidgeting and looked up to Yang’s violet eyes, sparkling in anticipation.

“Oh I don't know. I would like more time with him but-” Yang cut her off.

“Do you want this?” the sparkle was gone, replaced with bold determination, “Do you want to make this relationship happen?” Pyrrha nodded her head slowly, “Then you have to ‘do’ something. Just like any problem, you have to tackle it and make what you want to happen, happen.” Pyrrha steeled her eyes and gave her head a quick sharp nod.

“Okay, what’s the plan?” Pyrrha stared into her eyes and Yang could see the fire burning inside her that made her the champion she was.

“The fair’s in town. Let's just take you two to the fair.” Nora had a huge smile and had pulled up an ad on her scroll, it showed a massive traveling carnival that was stopping in the city of Vale that weekend.

“Yes.” Yang cheered, “That'll be perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Hooray, the first part of the double feature weekend and a cliffhanger. The carnival/fair story will take up all of next week so prepare yourself for lots of fun carnival fluff, some Arkos times and lots of other giggles and awws to be had.
> 
> Can’t wait to see what you all think of the fun they’re gonna have. Please let me know what you thought of the chapter and what you’re expecting. I already have the whole carnival done and it’s fun to see what people think is gonna happen.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading. I hope you’re enjoying it so far and that it continues to please.
> 
> -Zach


	16. The Carnival Part One: Rides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To the carnival for fun times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The Vytal Festival was one of the biggest events in the world, drawing crowds from across the globe and significantly affecting the local economy of the host nation. As such, there were a host of side industries which sapped off of this profit and one such industry was of course, tourism. In the months and weeks preceding the Vytal Festival itself, Vale was host to a plethora of carnivals, circuses, stage plays and other forms of live entertainment. So many people came flooding into the city to attend the Festival that there was more than enough tourism and luxury money to go around. This weekend was no exception as a large stretch of beach and the surrounding land was covered in the sprawling expanse of a carnival. Huge rides had been thrown up seemingly overnight, a massive roller coaster, a ferris wheel tall enough that you could see all of Vale spread out before you from the top, dozens of smaller attractions from go-carts to tumblers to spinning swings. The smell of carnival food and sweet confections floated through the air like snow in an Atlas Winter, permeating every business and residence for a block or more in every direction. This was where Nora had decided Pyrrha must make her stand and get Jaune to see how she really felt about her.

The plan was for them all to go to the carnival together, spend the entire day there having fun and relaxing and continually force Jaune and Pyrrha into situations together, over and over and over again until Jaune got the point. Nora even had a secret weapon in store for the end of the day just in case and she had refused to tell even Yang what it was. They all came to the festival dressed casually for once, out of their usual hunter’s garb. Atlas had transported hundreds of troops to Vale for the security of the Vytal Festival and they were also overseeing the security of many of the festivities leading up to the main event. This added layer of defense made the students feel safe enough that they came completely unarmed, if the need arose they could always summon their gear from the rocket propelled lockers at the school but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

Yang and Nora had opted for tank tops and shorts, trying to enjoy the last vestiges of Summer and heat down at the beach as Fall took it’s hold on the city. They wore their usual colors, yellow top and black shorts for Yang, white and bright pink for Nora. They shined with youth and vigor, and Yang knew they easily stood out in the crowd. Ren dressed more simply, a slimming green v-neck over a pair of blue jeans and small white athletic shoes so he could move quickly, just in case. Jaune wore his normal clothes, he just skipped on the armor and the sweater today, a simple white t-shirt with a bunny head on the front, denim jeans and sneakers, he tossed his blonde hair back and out of his eyes, completely unintentionally catching the sun just right so it shone and glimmered. Yang saw Pyrrha watch as Jaune laughed at Nora’s joke, his piercing blue eyes closed in mirth, white teeth glinting and hair shining like untrimmed fields of wheat. She was right, the boy was handsome, there was no denying that. She let her eyes drift down to Pyrrha, who had wanted more than anything to wear her armor to the carnival, trying to convince them all to do the same. After much cajoling Yang and Nora had been able to convince her to go without. The girl had instead decided on a deep red, strapless sun dress that just matched her hair, thin banners of bronze running down the sides that hugged her hips and the whole thing flared out at the base so the fabric drifted lazily around her as her long legs carried her over the sand. If that wasn’t enough to make Jaune fall on his knees and profess his love right there Yang didn’t know what would be.

“Gosh Yang, stop staring,” Nora gave her a gentle elbow in the side.

“I’m sorry, but have you seen her?” Yang turned to Nora, trying desperately to bring her jaw back up from where she had been dragging it across the ground.

“I know,” Nora giggled, “I was staring too, that’s why I saw you were.” Yang chuckled and put her arm around Nora’s shoulders.

“We’re hopeless aren’t we?”

“Oh yeah definitely.” Nora hugged into her side and then they fell apart to just holding hands.

“Alright guys, what do you wanna do first?” Jaune came through the turn stylus last and popped into his place next to Pyrrha, right where they had meant him to.

“The rides are certain to have short lines this early.” Ren looked over to the roller coaster with a longing Yang wouldn’t have expected from him.

“Yeah but right now all the sweets and stuff are fresh.” Nora’s eyes went wild as she scanned the area for the nearest source of sugary goodness and found a cotton candy stall, “Oh my Oum! That I need.” Nora went dashing off towards the stall without another word and Yang went jogging off backwards, facing their friends.

“I guess we’ll be right back.” she waved to the group as she backpedaled and then spun about to catch up with her girlfriend. She made it to the line after Nora and came up behind her, grabbing her about the waist and causing her to giggle in delight.

“Yang did you see?” Nora turned around to face her, not breaking the embrace.

“Yeah, cotton candy, it’s delicious.” Yang laughed, of course she had seen what the stall sold.

“But look,” Nora threw her arm back and behind her to point at the treat. Yang looked up and saw what she meant, it was pink.

“You know that’s the color it usually is right?” Yang cocked a suspicious eyebrow at her.

“And that’s why it’s the absolute best sweet ever.” Nora bounced in her arms and spun back around just in time to face the stall keeper.

“We’ll take three please.” Yang held up her fingers and Nora kept spinning until she faced her again.

“Ya’ know there’s five of us right?” Nora rolled her head off to one side in confusion.

“Yep,” Yang handed over some lien and accepted the three cotton candy stems, “Thanks,” she offered to the man before turning away with Nora close on her heels. “One for us,” she handed one to her girlfriend as they approached the group. “One for Ren and one for Jaune and Pyrrha to share.” she gave Nora a devious smile only to see she had already consumed over half of the thing. Yang simply shook her head as they got back to their friends. “Here you guys go,” she handed one to Jaune and one to Ren. They happily accepted them and then Jaune looked around, noticing they were short.

“Here Pyrrha,” he tilted the cotton candy towards her and she began to refuse but Yang coughed hard and very pointedly took a piece from Nora’s cotton candy and then kissed her on the cheek. Pyrrha took the hint and accepted a piece of the fluffy sugar treat.

“Oh thank you Jaune, that’s very considerate of you.” She gave the blonde boy a warm smile and he shook his head.

“Don’t thank me, Yang and Nora got it for us.” he smiled wide and extended the cotton candy stem out towards them as a strange sort of toast, “Thanks guys.”

“Oh yeah, no problem. Sorry I couldn’t grab enough, I left my Schnee at home.” They all laughed at that.

“Where is the rest of Team RWBY? Surely they wanted to come today as well.” Pyrrha took another small piece of cotton candy from Jaune, sliding closer to him to do so.

“Weiss and Ruby said they needed to train together some today and Blake said she already had plans today. Which is weird, because it’s Blake and she never has plans.” Yang shrugged her shoulder indifferently, “She probably thought that with the dorm to herself she could spend all day reading.” Yang laughed and Nora punched her in the shoulder.

“Oooorrr,” Nora stretched the word obnoxiously, “She could have made plans with Sun.”

“Oh yeah, that’s totally what happened.” Yang laughed and reached for the cotton candy again but Nora pulled it away.

“So mean.” she stuck her tongue out at Yang and then ate the remaining pink fluffiness in a single mouthful. Yang scoffed in indignation and felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to find Ren holding his treat out towards her.

“Thank you for the gesture but I don’t really eats sweets,” he looked past Yang to the excited redhead behind her, “and I think you will need this more than me.” He gave Yang a small smile and she accepted the stick with a nod of understanding and turned to face Nora.

“Oh I’m so mean am I?” Yang pulled a piece of cotton candy off slowly and ate it as sensually as she could, considering it dissolved almost the moment it touched her mouth. Nora lunged playfully at her to grab at the snack but Yang lifted it high above her head, far out of her reach. Yang playfully kept the cotton candy away from Nora while Jaune and Pyrrha reviewed a map of the fairgrounds, looking for something they would all enjoy. Ren stood by and happily watched all the different people walk by, taking in all the sights and sounds of the carnival that he could.

“Oh Jaune, they have a teacups ride.” Pyrrha squealed in an unfamiliar, girlishly high pitched voice. Yang stopped running from Nora at the noise and turned to look at the pair reviewing the map. Nora didn’t hesitate and grabbed a large chunk of cotton candy, cackling in victory as she devoured it.

“You really like the spinning teacup ride Pyrrha?” Yang asked of her. The tall redhead turned with a look of absolute glee in her eyes.

“Oh yes, it was one of the first rides I ever went on when I was a little girl. My father told me it was called the teacups and I begged and begged for him to take me on it. He didn’t want to but eventually he did and it was so much fun. I haven’t been on one in so long.” Pyrrha turned back to Jaune, “Would you mind if we went there first?”

“Of course not,” Jaune looked back at the map in his hands, “It’s right over there, c’mon guys.” Yang yanked the cotton candy away as Nora tried to sneak another giant clump away from her and followed the rest of the group. She ripped off a big piece and put it halfway in her mouth, letting a large piece hang out and then made sure to catch Nora’s eye with her own. Nora tackled her in a hug and mashed her mouth against her, she grabbed the cotton candy and spit it out to the side, then attacked Yang’s face with another kiss, free of interference this time.

The teacup ride was rather nearby, close to the entrance of the fair and as Ren had thought, there wasn’t a long line yet. Their group filed in behind just a few other people to wait for the current round of passengers to finish up. Yang watched as the cups went whirling about. The ride seemed to be based on three circles, one big one that spun, three little one inside that which spun the opposite direction and then multiple ‘teacups’ on each of the smaller circles which spun on their own. It was dizzying to watch but looked like an incredible amount of fun.

“Oh Ren, will you go on it with me please?” Nora was pulling on Ren’s arm and the boy was watching the cups spin by.

“I’m sorry Nora, I would really rather not. Perhaps Yang would like to.” Ren turned to her, a small smile on his face.

“Are you sure Ren? I can sit this one out so you can ride together, no problem.” Yang laughed, trying to reassure the boy that she wouldn’t feel spurned.

“No, really. Spinning rides like this don’t always sit well with me. Thank you though Yang.” he bowed his head ever so slightly in thanks and then turned back to Nora, “Go on Nora, you’ll enjoy it more with her.” He gave her another small smile and she relented.

“C’mon Yang, he’s right. Sometimes after these he gets sick.” Nora laughed and pulled Yang towards the ride’s entrance.

“Oh hey, it looks like it’s just us then.” Jaune smiled at Pyrrha and swept his arm out for her to pass by.

“Oh yes, it does.” Pyrrha smiled and stepped past him towards the entrance. A worker came over and opened the gate to allow them in. The previous set of passengers was just exiting the other side and there were still plenty of teacups empty for them to take. Nora and Yang found one on the far side which Nora swore looked like it spun faster than the rest and Jaune and Pyrrha took a bright blue colored one near the middle. Everyone took their seats and attendants made a quick round to ensure that everyone was strapped in properly.

The ride began spinning and Yang realized it was even more dizzying to be inside than it was to watch. The different spinning directions combined to be very disorienting and the cups twirled fast enough that everything outside of the cup was blurred. Occasionally the cups from separate circles would draw near each other in the center and the spinning would sync up in such a way that you could see the other passengers for a moment. Nora cackled wildly as the cups twirled about, both arms up in the air, squealing with delight. Yang couldn’t help but smile at how much she was enjoying herself, this seemed like exactly Nora’s kind of ride, absolute chaos and confusion. Yang threw her hands in the air as well and whooped at the top of her lungs, letting herself go and enjoying the moment with Nora.

Their spin brought them towards the center and Yang saw a bright blue cup approaching, it must be Jaune and Pyrrha’s. As their rotation slowed slightly at the apex of the turn Yang caught a glimpse of the inside of their car. The spinning force had pressed Pyrrha and Jaune up against each other and Pyrrha’s face was alight with laughter but Jaune didn’t look as happy. That was all she saw before their cups whirled apart again and they were lost in the sea of colors outside the cup again. Was it possible that Jaune was uncomfortable with how close he and Pyrrha were? No, no way, even if he didn’t like her like that, which couldn’t be true, but even if he didn’t there’s no reason he would feel uncomfortable around her. Yang decided she would just have to wait until the ride came to a finish to find out. A few more seconds of twirling and the ride slowly eased to a halt. Yang and Nora both exited the ride, absolutely ecstatic at the experience and begging for more. They made their way to the exit where they could see Ren waiting, a happy smile on his face.

“Hey Yang,” Yang turned to face Nora as they walked and felt a familiar poke on her nose, “Boop.” This wasn’t the first time Nora had poked her in the nose or forehead. She did that a lot, but she never said ‘boop’ when she did it. Yang hugged her back anyways, she knew the poking was a sign of affection from her and figured she must just be happy and just in a particularly silly mood right now. They got to the exit and looked back for Jaune and Pyrrha. Over against one wall Yang saw what had been wrong with Jaune. The boy was curled over the side railing of the attraction, very evidently vomiting into the bushes. Poor guy, she had forgotten he got motion sick really easily. Pyrrha was gently rubbing his back and saying something to him that they couldn’t hear. “Oh no, he got sick? I’ll go grab him a water.” Nore leaned up and kissed Yang on the cheek, “Be right back.” She went trotting off into the crowd, looking for a concessions stand that sold water bottles.

“Yang, I want you to know that meant a lot coming from her.” Yang looked to Ren in surprise.

“What? That kiss? Really? We kiss all the time. That was barely a peck.” Yang turned back and saw that Jaune was sitting up now on the side of the fence. An attendant had come over to make sure he was okay and they were talking.

“Not that. When she poked you just then and said boop. I leave it to her to tell you exactly what that means but just know that it means a great deal.” Ren bowed his head forward slightly and smiled at her as Nora returned.

“Okay I got some.” she held the water bottle up triumphantly, “You’d be amazed though, three lien for a lousy bottle of water.” she giggled and Yang leaned down to kiss her slowly on the lips, “Oh,” she giggled once Yang pulled back, “What was that for? I mean not that I’m complaining but just uhh...wow.”

“On nothing, just thought it was sweet what you did.” Yang smiled and Pyrrha and Jaune arrived.

“Here you go Jaune.” Nora handed him the water bottle. He took it and sipped slowly.

“Thanks Nora. I guess I didn’t really think that one through.” Jaune laughed and Pyrrha smiled meekly.

“I am sorry Jaune. It didn’t occur to me that that ride might make you feel ill.” Pyrrha had real concern and regret in her eyes.

“Oh hey, no problem,” he stood taller to emphasize how not sick he was feeling now, “Did you enjoy it?”

“It was wonderful, I felt like a little girl again, if only for a moment or two.” Pyrrha beamed a radiant smile, the largest Yang had ever seen on her and Jaune laughed merrily.

“Then it was totally worth it. Besides,” he waved a hand dismissively, “I’m used to this whole vomit thing. I do it almost every time I ride the airship up and down from Beacon.” Jaune and Pyrrha both laughed.

“Oh yeah, Vomit Boy.” Yang punched him lightly in the shoulder, “You’ve come a long way since then.” He rubbed his shoulder where she had jabbed him in mock hurt.

“Thanks Yang. I’m still fragile compared to you though.” They all laughed until Ren cleared his throat lightly.

“It’s not like me to make requests of this sort. But, would you all mind if we rode the roller coaster next? I would like to today but I don’t want all of you to have to wait overly long in line to humor me.” Ren looked expectantly at the group. That was perhaps the longest single stream of words Yang had ever heard the boy speak. He was right too, he never requested things of the group, he was usually more than happy to just go with the flow so for him to make this request, he must really want to ride that ride.

“Yeah come on let’s go.” Jaune laughed and grabbed Ren by the wrist, pulling him off towards the coaster, “Why didn’t you say so man.” Ren stumbled and caught up before gently freeing himself from Jaune’s grip.

“I didn’t want to intrude on the day.” The rest of the group caught up to the two boys, Pyrrha fell in next to Jaune, eyes full of concern again.

“Jaune, are you sure? You’re feeling better and this won’t make it worse again? If you’d like I can wait off the ride with you until they have finished.” Jaune turned to her, jovial light back on his face.

“Are you kidding? I love roller coasters. I just don’t do really well with spinny rides, or the ones that like drop you straight down and shoot you straight up in the air. It always feels like my stomach is gonna fall out of my feet.” Jaune rubbed his belly again and Pyrrha giggled behind a demur hand.

“Well, if you’re sure.” They reached the line and there were already quite a few people waiting their turn.

“Ahh I see, I’m sorry we walked all the way over here for nothing.”

“What are you talking about? Get in there ninja boy.” Yang gave him a gentle push and forced him into the line. They all laughed and followed behind.

“Yeah this line isn’t even that bad Ren. Don’t sweat it man.” Ren nodded in thanks, “Not that we wouldn’t wait for you anyways but we all wanna ride it too.” Nora slid over by Ren and leaned over by his ear, she whispered something the rest of them couldn’t hear and he picked his head up.

“Thank you everyone. It would seem I’m just not used to this sort of friendship quite yet.” They all smiled at the boy.

“So what exactly is this ride?” Pyrrha looked up at the heavy metal beams crisscrossing above their heads, “I’ve never actually been on one before.” She looked about between them as if that was the most normal thing in the world. Jaune’s mouth fell open and he had to physically shake his head to dissipate the shock.

“I thought you said you used to go to fairs with your Dad?” Jaune regarded her curiously, “How have you never been on a roller coaster?”

“Well yes,” Pyrrha laughed nervously and cleared her throat, “That was when I was very young and there are certain height requirements for these rides. By the time I was tall enough to ride something like this my father’s focus had shifted and I was already devoting all of my time to my training.” She clasped her hands behind her back and looked to the ground, “I haven’t been somewhere like this since I was eight years old.” But then she turned back up to them all with a bright smile, “But now I’m here with all of you and I am having a glorious time.” Jaune smiled broadly when she recovered and Yang laughed.

“Don’t worry Pyrrha. I think you’ll really like this one.” Yang smiled at her.

“Yeah it just goes really really fast and takes really tight turns. It’s kinda like being in a little race car.” Nora giggled and looked above their heads where a car went whipping past, rumbling loudly against the tracks.

“Oh that does sound fun. Is it really that exciting though? How different is it from our combat training?” Pyrrha again looked expectantly at the group.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t move that fast so I think it’s a blast.” Jaune laughed and they all shuffled forward slowly with the line.

“I believe most of the thrill comes from not being the one in control. When we perform our maneuvers we have absolute control of ourselves. In the car, you are strapped in and subject to it’s will. That is what makes it exciting for me at least, giving over to the car and allowing it to do as it will.” Ren looked up with a smile at the cars whizzing by.

“That could be exciting yes, a little scary too but I’m sure it is very safe.” The line slid forward again and they reached the boarding area. An attendant came by and asked how many were in their group, they told her five and she split them into three groups. Pyrrha and Jaune went to the front car, then Yang behind them and Ren and Nora in the third seat. They all filed to their spots and waited for their car to arrive. Nora practically jumped in once it pulled up to the station, they all sat and Pyrrha regarded the seatbelt curiously. It was just one large lap-belt, the seat just a big bench.

“Is this all the safety precautions there are?” She hesitantly sat down on the bench.

“Yeah, it’s way more than enough.” Jaune plopped down next to her and strapped them in with the belt, “It’s totally safe, trust me. Plus, we’ve got our aura right? No worries.” Pyrrha glanced back at the rest of the train of cars. Yang looked back as well and saw that they were the only obvious hunters on board. Pyrrha took a deep breath and faced forward. The car eased out of the station and she yelled over the rattling of the wheels.

“When will it start going fast?” Yang could see Jaune’s shoulders shake with laughter.

“It climbs a big hill, then slides down. You’ll know.” His voice carried easily back to Yang and she smiled, it would be fun to watch Pyrrha’s reaction. She craned her head around to look at Ren and Nora. Nora was as excited as ever, white knuckle gripping the front of her car, eyes gleaming with anticipation. What surprised Yang was the look of anticipation on Ren’s face as well. He looked, excited, he never looked like much of anything but he was definitely excited. The cars jerked and Yang spun forward again, she couldn’t wait to watch Pyrrha’s first roller coaster ride. The train slowly climbed the hill, the metal gears underneath them clacking loudly with each turn bringing them closer to the top.

Yang let out a loud whoop as they approached the peak and heard Nora echo her sentiment behind her. Jaune thrust his hands into the air as the front wheels reached the apex, and then they were over. Pyrrha screamed in terror and they fell perhaps ten feet and took a sharp one hundred and eighty degree turn before beginning to climb another hill. Yang had seen the fake drop from the bottom and knew it was coming, she knew very well though that Pyrrha wouldn’t expect it. She laughed as she watched Pyrrha trying to regain her composure, she was clutching the front of their car desperately. Jaune’s shoulders were shaking with happy laughter but Yang couldn’t hear what they were saying over the sound of the tracks. They approached the top of the second hill and Yang prepared herself, this was the real one and the fun was just about to start. She let out another wild yell and heard Ren this time shouting behind her. She had never heard him shout, even in combat.

They crested the hill and Yang watched as Pyrrha physically recoiled from the drop, she pulled her head back far and pushed at the front of the cart, hopelessly trying to stave off the fall. They plummeted down the track and Yang yelled as loud as she could, relishing in the adrenaline rush that came with the fall. Pyrrha wailed in terror and threw her arms around Jaune’s midsection, clinging to him all the way down the slope and into the twits and turns below. The car jerked this way and spun that way, the ride flew through a series of tight turns and then a large wide one that banked so hard they were perpendicular to the ground. The train slowed as they approached another, smaller hill and begin to climb for the final part of the ride. She watched as Pyrrha released her leader and fussed with her hair, trying to reassemble herself. Jaune laughed again and put a comforting arm over Pyrrha’s shoulder. She jumped at the initial contact and then leaned into his arm. He moved his head close to her ear and said something that Yang couldn’t make out. Whatever it was must have worked though, because as they approached the final peak Pyrrha raised her arms high into the air alongside his.

The second part was not nearly as exhilarating as the first but made for a good finish to the ride. Yang was impressed to see Pyrrha keep her hands up the entire time, even if her yells weren’t so much of excitement and a rush as they were ones of fear and horror. They reached the station and climbed out quickly to make room for the next passengers. Yang turned first to her girlfriend and gave her a huge smile.

“That was such an awesome ride,” she caught Ren’s eyes as well, still wide with happiness.

“Oh my Oum I know. Did you hear Pyrrha? That was awesome.” Nora bounced up and down, still riding the high from the ride.

“Yes, I did not expect her to react that way.” Ren said and they all laughed as Pyrrha and Jaune came over to them by the exit.

“That was one dusting awesome coaster.” Jaune smiled at Pyrrha first and then the rest of the group.

“Oh yes, it was-” she stopped and took a deep breath, still trying to steady herself, “it was quite an experience. Although I must say, I did enjoy it once I recovered from the initial shock.” She smiled and looked at the ground, “Thank you for helping me with that Jaune.”

“Everyone has it rough the first time. But, it’s fun isn’t it?” They all nodded and voiced their agreement to his statement and made their way out of the roller coaster’s area.

“Can we go again, oh oh oh, can we do it again?” Nora was still bouncing as they came out near the entrance of the ride. The line now extended out past the sign for the coaster and wrapped around the edge and out of sight.

“I dunno, that line looks pretty long.” Yang craned her neck around to the side to try and see the end of it.

“I think I may need a rest as well before getting on another ride. These last two were rather intense.” Pyrrha looked about, trying to find an equally exciting alternative to replace Nora’s request.

“We could try out some of the games.” Ren motioned with his hand towards the boardwalk and a row of game stands. There were classic games like baseball throwing and trying to get a hoop over the neck of a bottle but also more advanced ones, like a simulated shooting range and a “Vigor Tester” which was like a hammer strength tester but had no feasible limit to how hard you could hit it and measured your strength on a scale from ‘Baby Whelp’ to ‘Legendary Hunter’.

“Now that sounds grand.” Pyrrha smiled at the suggestion, happy to have something that seemed attractive to everyone.

“Look at you with all the great ideas today Ren.” Yang laughed and the boy smiled gently. They all headed off towards the boardwalk together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Alright, the carnival day begins with a blast and it would seem that operation get Jaune to notice Pyrrha is working so far. This section was originally supposed to be about one and a half chapters with the second half of chapter 17 being back at Beacon. However as I wrote it out...it got much much longer. They will be at the carnival until next Saturday and the chapters are all rather long, like this one, so please enjoy. I think having this particular group together is offering lots of chances for development and interesting interactions we maybe haven't seen before in Clubbin'
> 
> The next part of their carnival adventure will be out Tuesday so stay tuned for that. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> -Zach


	17. The Carnival Part Two: The Boardwalk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group's day at the Carnival continues with some games on the Boardwalk. They also run into some unexpected friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The fairgrounds were crowded and the games were a popular attraction. They were exciting and colorful and came with the tempting promise of overly large stuffed toys and cheap plastic imitations of famous hunting weapons. Yang looked in awe at the wide variety of people assembled on the boardwalk. Here were humans and Faunus, people from every kingdom Mistralians, Atlesians and Vacuens all happily enjoying the carnival together. The Atlesian Military presence was high but not in the carnival itself. The main concern for them was the chance of a Grimm breach in such a dense population and so their airships hung over the entire city, waiting for any sign of trouble. It was truly a testament to the efforts of the militaries and Hunters around the world that they were able to enjoy peaceful times like this, completely free of the conflict and bloody wars that had nearly torn their world to pieces not so long ago.

"Alright, whadda you wanna play?" Jaune threw his hands behind his head and addressed the group at large.

"These games don't look particularly challenging, less so than I had hoped even." Ren watched as a young boy tried to toss a ring over the neck of a bottle several feet away, "I believe we would find them un-entertainingly easy."

"Yeah I guess so." Jaune sighed and his shoulders drooped.

"We could always go for something competitive, that way it's us versus each other so it's fair." Yang smiled and Nora jumped at the proposition.

"Oh hehe" she nearly shuddered with excitement, "Oh yes, I will get my revenge." She thrust a single defiant fist into the air.

"Revenge for what Nora?" Yang cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Revenge for.. Revenge for umm.." she tapped her finger on her chin and then thrust her fist back into the air, "Revenge for you eating all the cotton candy."

"But that was you." Yang leveled a critical gaze at her, "You even ate Ren's." Ren silently nodded his head in affirmation.

"Well then I will stop you from having your revenge. C'mon what's it gonna be?" Nora's eyes darted around, looking for a suitable challenge.

"There is a shooting alley over there. We all use some sort of firearm so that should be fair." Pyrrha smiled around at the group and came to rest on a down trodden Jaune last, "Oh Jaune I'm sorry." Pyrrha's voice immediately fell back to concern and worry.

"Hey no problem, I've actually been practicing a lot lately. I think I might wanna add a gun to my equipment somehow anyways." Jaune said with an incredible sense of nonchalance and Pyrrha smiled.

"Oh that is just wonderful Jaune." Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder, "A firearm adds incredible versatility to your armaments."

"Yeah Jaune why didn't you say so. Ruby would just die to help you design something." Yang offered and Pyrrha's smile widened.

"Yes, she is a wonderful weapon smith. She helped me just the other day improve the transition speed for _Miló_ and it feels like new again." Jaune laughed lightly at Pyrrha's excitement and then sighed a little.

"I don't know though. That sword is like a family heirloom, I don't really wanna mess with it." he shook his head lightly.

"You know, that's real exciting and all but, are we gonna go shoot stuff or not?" Nora was already several steps away towards the shooting gallery. They all laughed and followed after her. They approached the gallery and there were a few people shooting at targets. It was a holographic range that could simulate all sorts of distances and replicate most anything for you to shoot at. Right now the range was displaying Forever Fall Forest with several large Ursa spread out in the trees. Yang laughed as she saw how slow the beasts lumbered towards the shooters and how easily they went down, this game was a joke compared to the real thing. They found five unused rifles next to each other and inserted a few Lien coins to pay for a round. Each gun's indicator displayed a twelve and they were then allowed to begin firing away at the Ursa. The young Huntsmen and Huntresses made short work of all the Ursa displayed, outpacing the games ability to populate new enemies and then sighed collectively as a group when they saw they all still had many rounds left.

"It is as I feared." Ren shook his head lightly side to side. They moved to rack their guns and walk away but were stopped by the voice of the man running the stand.

"Hey, hold up. Please wait." He came jogging over from the far side of the stand, desperately trying to get their attention before they left, waving both hands above his head. He was a large man, wearing a bright white and red striped shirt and neat brown shoes. "That was quite the performance you all just put on. You wouldn't happen to be Huntresses and Huntsmen here for the Vytal Festival would you?"

"We're all students up at Beacon actually." Yang gave him a proud smile and flexed one arm to show off her more than impressive bicep.

"Oh wow, you're real local heroes then. Do you know the ones who fought that robot on the freeway a couple weeks ago? Or who took down the White Fang rally? Or the ones that trashed the nightclub where all those criminals hang out?" The man's eyes lit up and they immediately realized the hero worship they were receiving. They hadn't been Huntsmen and Huntresses in the public eye for very long and didn't really know how to respond to the attention. Pyrrha stepped forward, Yang remembered that she had been a super star since she was barely a teenager and figured this is what it must always be like for her.

"Yes, we do know the brave Huntresses that performed those deeds. They are very talented warriors." Yang grinned at Pyrrha's understatement but said nothing, they most likely wanted to avoid telling the overzealous shopkeeper that they were in fact the ones responsible for those incidents. The man's grin grew until it nearly covered his face, Yang saw the distinct light of an idea forming behind his eyes.

"So you probably thought that game was pretty boring huh?" He looked eagerly at each of them, shifting his gaze until he reached Jaune who sighed.

"Yeah I mean, it was so slow." Jaune shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned up against one of the poles that held the stalls awning up.

"Well I have something that just might be exciting for you." He grinned again and bent down to grab a small microphone, he leaned over to them before activating it. "You'll get to play for free, I promise you'll enjoy it." then he pressed a button on the side of the small speaker and made an announcement to all the others using the shooting range, "Alright everybody, please put the rifles down. We have something very special for you." He gestured grandly to their group and Yang started to understand what he was doing, he was gonna use them as a publicity stunt. "Step up and watch some of Beacon's finest," he had no idea how good or bad they were, "take on the range at maximum difficulty." The other patrons had set their rifles down and backed away from the stall, making room for Yang and the others. The man bent down and flipped a few switches, the holographic display of Forever Fall Forest flickered away and was replaced by a nightmarish depiction of Vale under siege by Grimm.

Fire leapt up from overturned cars and sparks sprayed from downed airships. Civilians were running for cover from a terrifying onslaught of Nevermores, Ursa, Death Stalkers and Beowolves. Yang shuddered at the sight, it was their absolute worst nightmare, a city at war with the Grimm, overrun with the creatures and absolutely no hope of saving it. The holographic display paused and the man gestured to them grandly again.

"Can they best the creatures of Grimm? Come and see, come and see." He set the mic back on it's hook and waved emphatically, gesturing spectators over to his stand. He leaned over and spoke to them again as he continued waving, "It's an old training simulator from Atlas. It'll track all your stats so you can compare after. But put on a show for them would ya?" He flashed them a huge smile and swept his arms out towards the rifles, lying ready to use. Yang smiled.

"Now this is more like it. That really looks like fun." She clapped Nora on the back.

"Fun? It looks like a wonderful training exercise, this will be grand." Pyrrha rolled her shooting arm back in a slow circle, preparing herself.

"Think you can do better than me? Invincible Girl?" Yang rolled the last words, mocking Pyrrha's nickname competitively.

"I always do my absolute best Yang," she turned on her, "No going easy." They both grinned and trotted over to waiting rifles.

"Well this should be interesting. I hope I don't make a fool of myself in front of all these people." Jaune laughed nervously.

"Relax Jaune. You are perfectly capable." Ren gave him a small smile and stepped away towards a rifle. Nora spun around to face the crowd.

"Wooo. Alright, let's kill some Grimm!" she thrust her arms in the air and yelled out to the steadily growing audience. They returned her enthusiasm and a round of applause erupted. Nora ran off to Yang's other side and picked up a rifle. Yang leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Good luck." Yang smiled and leveled her rifle at the screen.

"Beat Pyrrha for me yeah?" Nora gave her a devious little smirk and aimed her gun as well.

The man made another announcement, trying to get as many people to the stand before they began as he could. Yang looked out over the projection, if it stayed at all like it was then she would be able to get a few right off the bat. She looked down at the guns small display to see how many rounds she had and instead saw a small timer. One Minute. So they had sixty seconds to get as many kills as possible. Oh this would be fun. Yang turned to give Pyrrha one last competitive grin before the round started and wasn't startled at all to see the girl scanning the scene, eyes focused and finger resting easily along the outside of the trigger guard. That was the focus of a champion, but Yang felt confident she could at the very least give her a run for her money.

The round started with a shout from the stall owner and the Grimm snapped back into motion. Yang was impressed at how well the simulation modeled the Grimm's movements compared to the real thing. The Ursai lumbered, the Death Stalkers scuttled and the Nevermores swooped just as she was used to. What was off was how easily the creatures went down, in that sense it was still a game. Early on she found that head shots were guaranteed kills, even against Deathstalkers who should have had enough plating over their skulls to deflect even the high caliber blasts from Nora's _Magnhild_. Several body shots would down the beasts which was also incredibly unrealistic, at least this way the watching crowd would be convinced that if this scenario ever came true that the Huntsmen and Huntresses before them would be able to defend them. Yang was even further impressed by the game as she saw that it accounted for injuries as well, hitting a Beowolf in the leg made it stumble, clip a Nevermore's wing and it came spiraling to the ground. She fired away at the masses of black and white monsters rushing towards them, targeting the largest clumps and trying to go for as many kills as possible, she had to beat Pyrrha's score. She saw that there were also civilians in the simulation, it probably marked you down for hitting them so she avoided the groups as best she could, she didn't want to lower her score or worse, risk shooting an innocent in front of this crowd. The minute was up before she knew it and she had to admit, that had been a lot of fun. Being able to just fire away at them like that with no risk of injury or failure was rather satisfying, a great way to blow off some steam.

The crowd cheered as the holographic images faded away and a massive 'Congratulations' spun out of the background. Simulated fireworks and celebratory noises accompanied the words and the crowd cheered even harder. This was the Vytal Festival crowd so they must be fans of Hunting combat and they were showing their appreciation for the performance they had just witnessed. The congratulatory message faded and a scoreboard spun into view, they had never given their names so they were represented by numbers instead from left to right it was Nora, Yang, Pyrrha, Jaune and Ren. The scoreboard had four columns and Yang gave it a curious look.

"What do you think the stats are?" she turned to Nora who did not look nearly as happy as her.

"Aww that was totally lame, there were no explosions or anything." Nora crossed her arms in a huffy pout.

"Don't worry, I have an idea for our next game that I know you'll love." Yang leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek and she softened slightly.

"If you say so," she tried to stay angry but slipped into a smile. Her face jumped as the screen changed and Yang turned her attention back to the scores. The first stat was total number of kills, she watched as the number appeared, 24 for Nora, 89 for her, 94 for Pyrrha, 22 for Jaune and 67 for Ren. Yang smiled over to Nora as the crowd erupted in applause and cheering.

"Shooting's not really your thing huh?" Yang laughed as Nora flexed her biceps.

"Nope, I like to smash things." she laughed merrily and then saw Pyrrha's score, "Sorry you didn't get her." Yang shook her head.

"I got close though didn't I? And she uses a rifle every day, it's not really my thing." Yang waved the rifle around easily by the stock. The next category lit up and they swung back to the score board. Number of shots fired. "Oh that's Grimmshit, accuracy? It gave us unlimited rounds didn't it?" Pyrrha laughed gently beside her, trying to hide it, but failing miserably as the scores appeared. Nora 64 shots, Yang 130 rounds fired, Pyrrha 94, Jaune 32, and Ren 90.

"I've never seen someone fire more shots than Ren. You have a very fast finger Yang." Pyrrha tried again to stifle a giggle.

"Oh we will have to put that to the test," Nora bumped Yang with her hip and gave her a very suggestive wink. Yang was at a loss for words and found herself reduced to nearly the same shade of red as Pyrrha was, "Look, look Headshots." Nora pointed excitedly as the next category came up. She had just 3, Yang had scored a respectable 22 nearly a fourth of her kills, Pyrrha however had 94 headshots, every single bullet had flown true, Jaune had only 8 and Ren had 13.

"That's alright Pyrrha. I get it. You're really really good with a rifle. No I understand. Point taken." Yang threw up her hands in defeat.

"Oh don't be a sore loser." Nora gave Yang a poke in the shoulder, "You did way better than everyone else." Yang laughed a let her shoulders drop. Nora grabbed her around the waist and she hugged her back around the shoulders.

"Wait," she turned back to the scoreboard, "What's the last category?" They looked back to the screen as the final statistic came up, Civilians Saved. Yang hit herself in the forehead, it was a training program, of course it would track how many people you rescued, that's what the civilians were there for, you were supposed to shoot the Grimm trying to eat them. Nora had saved 11, almost half, Yang had save only 4 since she had been trying to avoid them, Pyrrha's score read 39, Jaune had saved 24 innocents, exactly as many Grimm as he had killed. That meant every single one he shot was threatening a human life. Finally Ren had scored 14 civilian saves.

"Oh Jaune. You did very well." Pyrrha turned to him with a smile.

"Really? I didn't even get that many." he laughed nervously, and Yang could barely hear him over the din of the crowd behind them.

"No, truly-" Pyrrha was cut off as the crowd rushed towards them. They were assaulted by extended handshakes, hugs, high fives, cheers, autograph requests and the jostling of everyone trying to get as near to them as possible. They all did their best, shaking hands and signing nearly everything that was handed to them, books, prizes from other games, hands and arms, Yang even signed her name on one very eager young man's forehead. The stall owner jumped up on the counter and let his voice boom out through the mic.

"Alright, alright give them some room." the crowd backed off slightly and the five students huddled together beneath the man as he continued to speak. "We've definitely got a clear winner. I thought she was special when she walked up but she's hard to recognize out of her signature shining bronze armor." He extended a hand down to Pyrrha and grasped it politely, stepping up onto the counter next to him and making sure to tuck her dress forward demurely as she climbed, "The Invincible Pyrrha Nikos everybody." The crowd exploded, rushing forward again and pressing against the counter like it was a rock concert. Nora and Yang both channeled their inner bouncer and pushed the crowd gently away, using their incredible strength to simply slide the people backwards no matter how hard they tried to rush forward. Eventually the crowd got the point and backed down, happy just to look up at the redheaded superstar. "And here you are Ms. Nikos, your bounty." He reached up above his head and grabbed a humongously oversized stuffed Ursa and handed it to her, complete with the face mask and back spikes of a full grown alpha. Pyrrha smiled politely and accepted the Ursa, holding it up above her head like a championship trophy for the entire crowd to see. Yang watched as she stared out over the crowd and finally rested her eyes on a small girl a few rows back in the crowd who had been cheering as loud as any other. Pyrrha hopped down from the counter and moved into the crowd who readily parted and allowed her through. Pyrrha walked directly to the little girl and handed her the giant toy.

"Remember to work hard and you can become anything you want to be." The girl beamed at her, eyes wide in amazement and gingerly accepted the stuffed Grimm. Pyrrha stood and gave her a light pat on the head, waved to her parents and walked back to her friends. Yang leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Done this a few times before?"

"Oh yes, that part never gets old though." Pyrrha sighed and smiled out at the crowd, waving once more over her head.

"Alright, alright. Give them some room. Please let them enjoy the carnival. It's their day off as much as yours." The crowd applauded thunderously once more and parted to let their heroes leave the stall. They waved and shook hands and high fived as they left, but the crowd was polite enough to let them leave mostly unhindered. "Who's next? Who's next?" He hopped down off the counter and started waving the hopeful customers forward.

"Well that was exciting." Jaune smiled once they were free.

"I know right? It was so awesome. I mean I'm not a Huntress for all that but it was still pretty cool." Nora giggled and teetered back and forth from one foot to the other.

"Is that what it's like Pyrrha." Yang turned to the girl.

"Well not always," Pyrrha said quietly.

"They were really amped up weren't they? I can't believe a crowd at a fair got that crazy." Nora was still bouncing back and forth, obviously even more excited than she was saying.

"Oh yes, they were very happy to watch us perform but they rather, well, tame. They were very polite." Pyrrha gave them all her polite, crowd smile and a small nod of her head.

"You must deal with that a lot huh? That's crazy, it's like they think you're a whole different kind of person." Jaune said resolutely, "That's so unfair to you." Pyrrha blushed and looked away.

"They do need someone to look up to, and if I can make a real difference for even a single person then it's worth it." Pyrrha turned and smiled to Jaune, her blush not fading.

"Wow Pyrrha. I'm just here to have fun and punch stuff." Yang laughed to try and break the tension their very serious discussion had created and Nora joined her.

"Ahh yes, punching things is fun." Pyrrha shook her head slightly and gave a small laugh.

"Now come on, I promised Nora something." Yang grabbed Nora's hand and pulled her off, the rest of the group followed behind. Yang had seen it right when they got to the boardwalk and knew that it would be Nora's favorite, the Strength Tester. You just hit a thing with a hammer and the giant digital display tells you how hard you swung. What could Nora possibly have more fun doing? As she approached she saw that there was another couple waiting to have their chance at the game. Yang smiled as she noticed the girl's bow twitch and the boy's golden tail whip slowly back and forth behind them.

"Ahhh Blake!" Nora screamed behind Yang, released her hand and raced past her towards the couple. Blake released Sun's hand and turned just in time to catch the redhead as she attempted to tackle her with a hug. Blake steadied her and patted her back gently and after a moment Nora released the Faunus girl. Yang caught up to her from behind and tossed her partner a lithe smile, so these had been her plans for today. Well, Yang was definitely never going hear the end of that from Nora.

"Hey there Blake, having fun?" Yang tossed out and Blake blushed as Nora released her. Sun smiled and she saw his tail whip excitedly to the side.

"I think we're having a good time so far," Blake smiled at Sun's response and nodded her head in agreement.

"Yes, it's been very nice." Blake dropped a hand back to her side, fingers extended outwards. Sun looked down, saw her hand and grabbed it with a start, winding his long supple fingers in between hers.

"So, you two gonna do this thing?" Yang pointed up to the strength tester that they were quite obviously in line for. Sun turned around and Nora followed her hand up to it.

"Oh Yang this is awesome," Nora squealed with excitement and clapped her hands together.

"Yeah, I was gonna give it a try. They say you can't max it out, but I bet I can." Sun pounded his chest lightly with his free hand. Just then Ren, Pyrrha and Jaune caught up to them. Ren and Pyrrha both smiled and nodded to the new couple but Jaune nearly screamed out in shock.

"You guys are together? No way, since when?" Sun laughed and Blake blushed deeply, looking away but not releasing Sun's hand.

"Well not all that long really. I kinda didn't ask her forever and ever. I thought I missed my chance really." Sun turned to Blake and gave her a huge smile, her blush lessened and she returned a fraction of the grin. "I guess I didn't though and boy am I happy about that."

"Well that's awesome. I bet you two will be great together." Jaune gave Sun a thumbs up and then glanced at the hammer machine in front of them.

"You gonna go for it Jaune?" Nora followed his eyes and saw what he was looking at.

"Yeah sure, I'll give it a try." Jaune rolled his right arm in circles, loosening up the shoulder muscles, "You wanna go too Pyrrha." Pyrrha waved a hand abashedly.

"Oh no that's quite alright.I wish you luck though, I'm sure you'll do very well." Pyrrha gave him a reassuring glance before he turned back to face the machine.

"I guess it's you and me then Jaune. Wanna make a little contest out of it?" Sun released Blake's hand and stepped towards the machine with Jaune close behind.

"Sure, what did you have in mind?" Jaune handed over the few Lien that it cost to play and the man handed him the sledgehammer.

"You just get one swing each, now be careful." the man nodded his head politely and allowed them past.

"How about the loser buys lunch?" Jaune looked back at their now seven member party and had flashbacks to the horror that was Yang and Nora at a meal.

"Uhhh, for just you and Blake? Right?"

"Oh yeah sure, and I'll get lunch for Pyrrha and you if you win." Sun gave him a clap on the back and Jaune regarded him curiously.

"But Pyrrha and I aren't-" Yang saw him begin but he was cut off by a cheer from outside the small roped in area.

"I believe in you Jaune. You can do it." Pyrrha was leaned up against the ropes, wearing a huge smile and looking on expectantly. Jaune stared for a moment and then turned back to Sun.

"Alright, you're on," he extended the hammer out towards the other boy in his left hand and held out his right hand to shake. Sun shook his hand and took the hammer. Jaune stepped back to give him room and the other boy squared up in front of the machine, hammer over his shoulder.

"He's never gonna hit it hard enough with his feet like that," Nora whispered to Yang. Yang glanced down and saw Sun's feet were side by side about shoulder width apart, absolutely zero leverage, she chuckled under her breath. "You wanna go after them?"

"Of course I do, and I bet I'll hit harder than you too." Yang gave Nora a cocky smile and there was a loud bang as Sun made contact with the surface. The numbers on the power meter scrolled quickly by, never staying long enough to read until they finally settled on 587 and the title 'Big Ursa'. The stall's attendant let out a low whistle.

"That's a hell of an arm you've got." he said and Sun laughed.

"Well I don't like to brag or anything," he pulled one arm up and rubbed his bicep. He handed Jaune the hammer and stepped over to stand by Blake, only separated by the small rope, "Alright man, you're up." Jaune looked despondently up at the huge 587 on the screen and shook his head. Pyrrha clenched the rope tightly, wringing it in both hands. Jaune stepped up to the machine, put his left foot slightly forward and brought his right leg back. He dropped the hammer head to the ground next to the target and took a deep breath. Yang saw him mutter something under his breath but couldn't make it out. Jaune heaved the hammer high into the air, keeping a firm grip on the end of the handle with both hands. It seemed to float there above his head for a moment and then he brought it slamming down with a loud clang and a grunt. The numbers spun and their group watched on until they came to rest at 594 and the same title as before. The man whistled again, louder and higher pitched this time.

"You boys are pretty strong," he said as Nora and Yang walked up behind him.

"Can we give it a shot?" Yang tapped on the man's shoulder and he turned around.

"Well of course, step on up." Yang handed over a few Lien and stepped into the roped off area.

"Damn Jaune, you got me." Sun laughed good naturedly and patted Jaune on the back and they both laughed.

"Yeah, I guess the gym's been working for me." They passed Nora and Yang on their way out and passed them the hammer.

"You boys ready to see how it's done?" Nora took the hammer happily in both hands.

"Yeah, yeah. There's a reason I didn't bet against you." Jaune laughed and went out to stand by Pyrrha. Yang looked back and was happy to see him lean down on the ropes next to her. They were both smiling and talking happily, Pyrrha probably congratulating Jaune on his win over Sun and Jaune trying to say he had just been lucky or some such nonsense..

"Alright Yang, ladies first." Nora held the hammer out to Yang.

"Oh why thank you." Yang did a big mock bow and accepted the hammer. She hefted the weight back and forth in her hands easily until she found a good balance point near the top of the shaft, then she turned back to the man she had paid, "You sure this thing's sturdy? I don't wanna break it." The man roared in laughter and slapped his knee.

"I wouldn't worry about it, you just do your worst." Yang gave him a wry grin and took a step back from the machine and cracked her neck. She cried out and swung the hammer down, not nearly putting all of her strength behind it, she really was worried she'd break the thing. The numbers started ticking upwards faster and faster and then a fourth digit appeared. The man gasped as the number came to rest at 1382, 'Goliath', "I think you boys owe her lunch." The man laughed again and stopped short as Nora grabbed the hammer.

"Oh no, she's gonna buy me lunch." Nora didn't hesitate at all, swung, the hammer in a wide circle over her head with a whoop and smacked the target. The machine rocked forward slightly and the supporting legs bit into the ground. The numbers sailed up, racing past the 1400's and stopping at 1945 and granted Nora the title 'Legendary Hunter'. Nora lifted the hammer high above her head and strutted around in a little circle, laughing and cheering and waving the mass of metal from side to side.

"You know I was gonna buy you lunch anyway right?" Yang stopped her circling and grinned at Nora's huge smile, "Plus it's a hammer Nora, kinda your thing."

"Well yeah, but it was sooo much fun." Nora dropped the hammer to her side in one hand and poked Yang on the nose, "Boop." Yang felt that stupid grin on her face like when they had just started dating. Was she ever going to get used to this girl?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - So, I am a terrible person and I wasn't able to make a post here yesterday. The chapter was done and got posted elsewhere but thanks to how this site's posting works I always do it last and I just ran out of time and had other more pressing responsibilities that I had to take care of. Anyways, I'm sorry it's up late and I thoroughly hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Another huge chapter to continue the 'Carnival Saga' as it has been so aptly named. There should only be one more chapter spent at the carnival, although I warn you, it may be very very long. After that things will return to the normal flow of bouncing around between Yang and Nora chapters and chapters where they interact with everyone else.
> 
> Some news regarding the next few weeks of posting. I will be attending and working both the Los Angeles Anime Expo and the San Diego Comic Con International shows this summer. So from June 29 to July 5 and from July 19 to July 25 there won't be any updates. I may have a few one shots I post during that time but nothing like this. Also, "Friends and Loved Ones" will begin on June 14, that's my birthday and so I thought it would be a fun time to start a new story, it too however will not be updated while I'm at the two conventions. "Friends and Loved Ones" will follow the same update schedule as "Clubbin' " so for a while I will post their chapters on the same day until "Clubbin' " finishes. I hope that gives you all lots to read.
> 
> I hope everyone's enjoying the story still. This chapter felt like a lot of fun for them, I mean it was literally just them playing games the whole time. Let me know how you felt about it. Thanks so much for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	18. The Carnival Part Three: Sunset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final piece to the 'Carnival Arc'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The afternoon rolled on and the sun was high in the sky, radiating down on the carnival. Yang looked out over the ocean and saw the rays of sunlight gleaming off the endless blue expanse. Then her seat fell out beneath her and she went plummeting down, she gripped Nora’s hand dearly and let out a vicious yell. Her hair flipped up in the air above her as she rocketed towards the ground, whipping about in long golden tendrils. Their was a hiss of pressurized air and the bench came to a slow stop, easing its passengers down to the ground. Yang let out a short laugh and released Nora’s hand so that they could remove the safety harnesses.

She climbed out of the contraption and shook her mane of hair out, trying desperately to make it behave and hang appropriately down her back. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, shaking the hair out and running her hands under it to fluff it up a little. She opened her eyes to the sun and felt the midday warmth on her cheeks and neck. Then she felt a familiar grip around her waist and she lowered her gaze to the bright eyed redhead beside her. She gave Nora a light kiss on the forehead and then looked over her head to Ren standing on her other side. The boy was tugging gently at the hem of his shirt, trying to straighten it.

“That was great.” Yang let out another loud whoop. Ren gave her a small nod and Nora yelled out as well. They all headed down to the exit where Jaune and Pyrrha were happily awaiting them. Yang smiled when she noticed their proximity, sure they could just be standing and waiting together but their shoulders were nearly touching and she knew Pyrrha was aware of that fact.

“Did you all enjoy the ride?” Pyrrha brightened up as they exited the ride’s fenced in area.

“Yeah, that was a rush.” Nora squeezed Yang’s hand in excitement.

“It was quite enjoyable.” Ren let out another warm smile, Yang was glad he was enjoying the day so much. They all continued walking in no particular direction, heading away from the ride to make room for others who were exiting as well.

“Thanks for waiting with me Pyrrha. Sorry you didn’t get to go on.” Jaune gave her an uneasy attempt at a grin. He was really embarrassed by his motion sickness. It had reared it’s ugly head after the teacup ride and Jaune said that drop rides were just as bad for him so he chose not to participate. Despite his fervid protests Pyrrha had opted to stay off the ride with him and wait for the others.

“That’s alright,” she blushed slightly, “Besides, I don’t believe my attire is appropriate for that ride.” she glanced down at her knee length dress and Jaune laughed, “I was happy to wait with you.”

“So where are we headed to next?” Yang looked about the surrounding carnival, trying to find an attraction they hadn’t sampled already.

“Well, we’re supposed to meet back up with Sun and Blake for lunch at around one, so we have like an hour or so left.” Jaune pulled a rather crumpled map out of his back pocket and unfurled it in his hands, “We could do something over near the food stalls so we don’t have to rush over right after.”

“Oooh, or we could go and start eating now.” Nora grinned at Yang, knowing she could at least get her girlfriend to agree with her on that one.

“That's true, they had a ton of stuff over there to try.” Yang tried to crane her neck around to see the map Jaune was holding.

“I do believe they have some simpler attractions by the food.” Pyrrha sidled next to Jaune and poked her head over his arm to look at the map, “There is a House of Mirrors there, I’m sure we could entertain ourselves with that until lunch time.” Pyrrha looked up to Jaune and he smiled before looking to the rest of the group.

“So, the crazy mirror house and then grab some food?” Jaune offered up and everyone nodded in agreement. Together they made their way past several of the larger rides, tumblers and scramblers, spinning platforms and a roller coaster type ride that consisted of just the loop. Jaune had been able to ride the looping ride but the others he said were a bit much for him. Pyrrha had offered to wait with him while everyone else enjoyed themselves but they had all wanted to stay together. The drop tower was one of Nora’s favorites however and she had convinced Yang and Ren to go with her. The got to the House of Mirrors and there was a very short line outside. They stepped up behind the group waiting their turn and fell to talking amongst themselves.

“Can you believe Blake and Sun are going out?” Jaune asked of no one in particular.

“They do seem rather ill suited for each other.” Ren tilted his head to one side in contemplation.

“But they’re so cute together. Like he’s all bright and open and well..sunny.” Yang laughed at Nora’s unintentional pun, “and Blake’s all dark and mysterious and sneaky. They’ve got this great balance, like, what’s it called Ren?”

“Yin and Yang.” Ren flipped his head slightly to one side, kicking the single pink strand of hair back and out of his eyes.

“Yeah like that.” Nora beamed with pride, so glad that she had almost remembered the phrase.

“Wait what? What is that?” Yang looked to Nora and then over to Ren.

“It a theory about balance in all things. There is a push and pull that each force exerts on the other. Yin and Yang. It also states that each side has a small piece of the other. So if it was the case, we would find Sun to have a more closed off part of himself and Blake to have a bright cheery side or something that makes her happy like that.” Ren gave Yang a smile, content with his explanation and Yang nodded in understanding, mulling it over.

“That’s pretty cool, and I think it’s true too. I’ve seen Blake get really happy about stuff. Like her books, or a successful mission against the White Fang, even tuna.” They all laughed at Yang’s last example and slid forward so they were the next in line.

“Well I think they are adorable together. They each have something to offer each other and I believe they will do splendidly as a couple.” Pyrrha looked right at Jaune, nearly boring the words into him. Yang just thought to herself, how could that boy be so dense.

“You’re right Pyrrha. It’s awesome when people are together and make each other better. I think that’s really what it’s all about isn’t it?” Jaune said and the group voiced their genuine approval of the idea but was politely interrupted by the attendant.

“Okay, it’s your turn.” she waved them into the house. They all smiled and thanked her as they entered, Jaune and Pyrrha first, then Ren with Yang and Nora in the rear. The girl’s eyes lingered on Ren as he entered and he gave her a small nod and a warm smile. She looked away at his attention and grabbed her small lectern, trying to appear very professional. Nora and Yang giggled furiously and followed Ren in.

The mirrors inside were arranged like hallways that guided you round and round the building in complicated patterns until spitting you out the back. The mirrors themselves were all made in such a way that they twisted and distorted your image, causing you to appear shorter, or taller, to enlarge certain areas and shrink others. Yang walked in front of a mirror that enlarged her chest, bulging it out to the sides and shrank her waist to miniscule proportions. She reached up and grabbed her already ample bosom with both hands and hefted it up alittle.

“What do you think Nora?” Nora laughed out loud.

“That’s the last thing you need any more of,” she pushed playfully at the big blonde’s shoulder, jostling her away from the mirror. Nora then stepped into her place but because of her height the mirror instead made her head huge and shrank her torso down, “Aww now that is not fair.” Nora crossed her arms in a pout. Yang laughed and picked her up in a bear hug.

“Maybe with that big new head you could remember Yin and Yang. I mean it is partly my name and all.” Yang squeezed harder as Nora tried to playfully push away from her. Jaune and Pyrrha found a mirror that made Jaune’s shoulder much wider than they were, stretching them out to nearly Cardin like proportions. Jaune flexed his arms and shoulders, trying to make the image bulge even further. Pyrrha let out a small laugh.

“You have been in the gym more haven’t you?” she gave him a coy smile and Jaune flustered.

“Oh yeah, I mean not as much as Yang and Nora but I’ve been trying.” Jaune let his arms fall back to his sides.

“Oh Jaune I was playing. You’re obviously much stronger than you were.” she put a single hand on his arm, just above the elbow. Jaune smiled and slid out of the way slightly so that she could stand in front of the mirror. Pyrrha let her hand slide off of his arm and stepped in front of the mirror. Her shoulders spread slightly in the image, but she was already so slender to begin with that they didn’t even grow as wide as Jaune’s, “Apparently I need some more time there myself.” Pyrrha laughed lightly.

“Are you kidding? You wouldn’t have time for anything else.” Jaune laughed as well, “You’ve gotta have time to relax, even you.” Pyrrha turned away from the mirror to her partner.

“Well I’m glad I could be here then.” They just stared at each other for a moment, a broad smile on Jaune’s face and small blush on Pyrrha’s until they were interrupted by a yell from Nora.

“Oh now this is just rude.” she and Yang were both standing in front of a rather wide section of mirror that caused their legs to bulge outwards. They both sat their staring at an image of themselves they found very unflattering. Ren chuckled slightly and Nora turned on him, “And what about you chicken legs?” she stepped to the side, removing her image from the mirror and allowing Ren to be reflected in it. Ren’s already thin form was not exaggerated too greatly, probably because he was a couple feet further from the glass.

“See Nora. It is just us. Maybe this mirror is like a portal to the future.” Yang waved her hands about in front of the glass mysteriously. “I mean we do eat a lot.” Nora crossed her arms again.

“That’s it. We are going to the gym twice a day from now on.” she gave Yang a triumphant look.

“I mean, if you think you can keep up with all this.” Yang had stepped in front of another mirror and flexed her arms. The image in the glass had outrageously huge biceps, the muscles extending far above her head. Nora grimaced and they all laughed good naturedly. Yang leaned forward and gave Nora a short kiss on the lips.

The group continued through the convoluted hallways, winding their way past more ridiculous mirrors and continuing to compare themselves and strike poses based on what they saw.  By the time they emerged, Nora wasn’t the only one feeling hunger pangs and they meandered over to the various food stands the fair had to offer.

“Where did they say they would meet us?” Yang searched the crowd for her partner and her newfound boyfriend.

“I dunno really. Blake said over by the food and then they went running off together.” Jaune craned his head high, trying to see Blake’s big bow bouncing along above the crowd. There was a tap on her shoulder and Yang spun around. She followed the hand up and up and saw Sun hanging from the branch of a tree by his long tail. Blake was leaning against the trunk, enjoying the coolness its shade offered.

“Well hi there, looking for us?” Sun pulled up slightly and then released himself, finishing a small flip to land on his feet. Blake shook her head with a small grin and walked forward to where he was.

“How long have you two been there?” Yang gave them an incredulous look and Sun laughed.

“Well I was waiting up there, looking out for you all from the top and Blake was just sitting there in the shade, Sun looked up and tapped his chin thoughtfully, “Probably something like ten minutes.” Yang groaned and turned to Jaune.

“We are the worst hunters ever.” Yang let her head drop and the rest laughed.

“So what’s for lunch Jaune?” Sun looked expectantly to the boy.

“There’s so much here, I have no idea where to start. Any ideas Pyrrha?” Jaune found the girl next to him.

“Well this fair is from Atlas right? Why don’t we have some Atlesian food then? It’s sure to be authentic.” Pyrrha gave him a smile.

“Sounds like a plan to me, lead the way.” Sun gestured grandly forward with his hand and the four headed off together.

“We’ll catch up with you guys. Gonna grab our stuff over here.” Yang jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards some other stands and Jaune nodded.

“Alright, see you in a minute.” Jaune waved as the group headed towards the bright red banner of an Atlesian stall. Yang waited until they had faded into the crowd slightly and regarded her remaining two companions.

“So ‘Operation: Get Jaune to Notice Pyrrha’ is going really well so far if I do say so myself.” Yang crossed her arms in smug satisfaction.

“Operation what now? You’re starting to sound like Ruby.” Nora laughed and Yang uncrossed her arms.

“Well she came up with the name. I told the rest of the team about our plan and you know how she gets. I guess it kinda stuck in my head.” Nora and Yang laughed but Ren just shook his head solemnly.

“But, if something more doesn’t happen I believe they will go back to normal once we return to school.” Ren continued to shake his head as the looks of realization spread across Yang and Nora’s faces.

“We’ve kind of done everything we can haven’t we?” Yang looked to Nora who had an all too familiar, devious grin.

“I’ve still got my big secret. I promise you it will work. Those two aren’t leaving here the way they came in.” Nora rubbed her hands together and cackled quietly.

“Just promise me they’ll leave with all their limbs.” Yang put a firm hand on Nora’s shoulder.

“I promise nothing.” She leaned up and gave Yang a quick kiss, “Now come on, I’m starving.” Nora grabbed Yang’s hand off her shoulder and pulled her off towards a stand that had large racks of meat spinning on rotisseries.

Nora, Yang and Ren found their way to the table where the other two couples, or at least one couple and one on the way, were already eating and waiting for them. Yang flung down her cardboard container, filled high with a large mass of noodles along with a sizeable portion of meat. Shoved to the corner of both her and Nora’s boxes was a small amount of salad, nearly buried beneath the well cooked beef and rapidly soaking up the mixture of grease from the noodles and juices from the meat. Ren’s platter had a wide variety of fruits and vegetables next to a small amount of chicken and a small, delicate looking cupcake.

“Well you two found your favorite place didn’t you?” Jaune looked hungrily at their plates.

“Oh yeah, you should have seen it. There was so much meat.” Nora grabbed her fork and began digging in.

“I was just pleased to find a stand serving fresh fruits and vegetables. They’re a local farm that decided to come sell to people here and at the Vytal Festival.” Ren showed his plate as he sat down.

“And what’s with the cupcake then?” Sun gestured at it with the fork in his hand.

“Oh,” Ren smiled, “That was because today has been such a good day. I wanted something a little sweet for myself and they assured me these were delicious.” Ren scooted the cupcake slightly to the side, allowing it to rest more evenly on the cheap platter.

“I was just glad they had these little salads as part of the meal,” Yang held up a few juice soaked leaves of lettuce on her fork, “or else Ren might make us drink some of that ‘healthy juice’ stuff he makes.” Both Jaune and Pyrrha had to hide their laughter.

“Like a smoothie? I bet that’s delicious.” Sun looked over to Ren, “You’ve gotta make it for me sometime.”

“I have a glass every day, I’d be more than happy to share.” Ren gave the Faunus boy a polite nod and lifted a small fork full of diced veggies to his mouth.

“So how’s your day been?” Yang looked across to her partner as she slurped up some noodles.

“It’s been very nice. I’m happy to see all the different people at the fair.” Blake smiled and looked around them at all the people sitting and eating or milling about, “It’s very refreshing.”

“I was telling her she shouldn’t wear her bow but she wouldn’t take it off.” Sun smirked at her and took another bite.

“Yeah, well she probably already pretty embarrassed to be walking around with you.” Yang mocked the boy and he just laughed.

“Yeah you’re probably right. I know I’m just happy to be here with her.” Blake blushed a little under his praise, “I mean who would have ever thought she’d agree to going out with me of all people?” Sun shrugged his shoulders in disbelief.

“Oh stop that Sun.” Pyrrha smacked at his shoulder, “You boys never think highly enough of yourselves. Here I thought you were so confident.”

“Well yeah I mean, I am. But, have you seen Blake? She’s like, way out my league.” Sun smiled and his tail whipped quickly back and forth behind him.

“Apparently I don’t think so,” Blake reached up and grasped his hand on the table top, wrapping her long lithe fingers around his strong calloused ones. Sun looked down at their hands and smiled.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” Sun gripped her hand back, “Now I just wish I had gone for it sooner.” Yang looked across to Jaune, he wasn’t particularly involved in the conversation but he was listening, paying attention and watching on. She so hoped that he was at least getting the hint. Running into Sun and Blake and hearing the way they had ended up getting together could not have been more convenient. Yang had to wonder if maybe Blake had mentioned it to Sun and the boy was playing along. Either he was a sincere guy who was opening up about how he felt for Blake or he was a good friend, willing to throw in with them and help Jaune and Pyrrha at a moment’s notice. Yang decided those were both good things and she would happier if either was true.

“You’re tellin’ me,” she laughed out, “Can you believe how long it took me? I probably never would have even realized I liked Nora if she hadn’t taken that first step.” Yang looked very pointedly at Pyrrha.

“I think you blondes just need an extra push.” Nora gave Yang a playful push with her shoulder and Yang laughed, Nora stretched her neck up and put a greasy kiss on Yang’s cheek.

“Well if you two are finished over there, do you know when you’ll be ready to head back to Beacon?” Blake looked at her partner specifically.

“Uhh, we weren’t quite finished yet actually. I think we wanted to milk the day a little more.” Yang motioned as subtly as she could with her head and eyebrows over at Jaune and Pyrrha. Blake nodded her head slowly.

“Okay, because Sun and I were thinking of taking a walk along the shore together. I’m not sure when we’ll be done, so please don’t wait on us.” Blake looked around the group to make it obvious that she intended to address everyone.

“Thank you for letting us know Blake, I hope you two have a splendid time.” Pyrrha looked out over the low slung food stands at the now descending sun, “I believe you’ll have a wonderful sunset to watch.” Blake followed her eyes out over the tents and rides and saw that sun and clear blue sky all around it.

“You’re right, I think we will.” Blake gave the other girl a kind smile and her bow twitched at a small crinkling noise. She glanced over and saw Ren very carefully unwrapping his cupcake, pulling the paper cup away in a slow methodic circle. He lifted the morsel to his mouth and took a careful bite.

“Really enjoying that aren’t you?” Sun asked and Blake kneed him silently under the table, Sun started at the impact and looked at her. Blake gave him a reprising glare. Ren swallowed the bite slowly and addressed Sun.

“I don’t often eat sweet things, or unhealthy foods at all really. So, when I permit myself I prefer to enjoy them as much as I can.” Ren gave Sun a polite smile and Sun laughed a little nervously.

“Sorry,” another short laugh, “I guess I just spend too much time with Team RWBY. Have you seen the way Ruby goes after cookies and brownies and stuff?”

“Oh yes, she must train an incredible amount to balance that out.” Ren laughed and Yang joined him.

“That’s my little sister. She does everything at full speed. She and Weiss are actually training right now.” Yang laughed again and they all sighed, missing the little brunette but also relieved to not have to keep up with her.

“So you guys wanna get going?” Jaune stood and took his and Pyrrha’s trash.

“Oh thank you Jaune.” Pyrrha went to stand but stopped as he picked up her garbage.

“Yeah we’re almost done here. Just one sec.” Yang said and dove back at her food. Nora lifted a single finger on her left hand to indicate she also only needed a moment. As if to reinforce her sincerity she began aggressively slurping up her noodles. Jaune shook his head and laughed, then went to pick up Ren, Blake and Sun’s trash as well.

“Thanks Jaune, you don’t have to do that.” Sun went to stop him.

“No, no it was your treat. It’s the least I can do.” Sun shrugged as Jaune continued to collect their stuff and then headed for a trashcan, “Be right back.” Jaune walked away slowly, desperately trying to balance the large pile of cardboard plates and plastic wrappers he now had. Yang looked up from her plate as she continued to slurp until she thought Jaune was out of earshot. She bit off the noodles and swallowed quickly then leaned across the table to talk to Pyrrha in a hushed voice. She wasn’t hiding it from the rest of the table, just making sure Jaune didn’t hear.

“Alright Pyrrha, you gotta go for it here. Time to make your move.” Yang leaned back quickly and returned to eating as Jaune deposited his load in a trash can and turned back. Pyrrha understood her meaning and nodded quickly. Yang and Nora finished their food, tilting the small containers up and shoveling the last bits down as they stood.

“So where to?” Yang tossed their plates in a trash can and wiped her mouth with their last napkin before depositing that as well

“Well we’re gonna go for that walk” Blake grasped Sun’s hand gently.

“Yeah, it’ll be good after that lunch.” Sun stood close to her, his tail drifting slowly back and forth.

“Alright, you two have fun.” Nora gave them a smile.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Yang winked at her partner who sighed.

“That doesn’t rule out much.” Blake said and then she and Sun waved and they all watched them go a short distance before turning back to each other.

“I did see they have a large spinning swing set up near the water’s edge. Is that something everyone would enjoy?” Pyrrha looked around at them all, finally resting on a rather worried looking Jaune.

“I think it’ll be okay.” Jaune gave her weak grin, not very reassuring.

“It’s really slow Jaune, not fast. It’s supposed to be kind of relaxing.” Yang patted him on the back, “You’ll be fine.” Jaune chuckled uneasily and the group headed out. There was a considerable line for the ride and Yang thought she knew why. It was later in the afternoon now and the sun’s rays were bouncing off the ocean with the first inklings of sunset. The swings, close to the water as Pyrrha had said, would give a gorgeous view of the ocean on one side and Vale as it’s lights came on for the night on the other.

The line moved faster than she expected and they only had to wait through two rounds of passengers before it was their turn. There were a large amount of swings, Yang figured it must hold at least a hundred people. They found five swings relatively close to each other and took their seats. Jaune sat and Pyrrha rested a hand on his shoulder before taking her seat.

“You’ll be okay Jaune. I think you’ll really like it.” She let her hand slide off his shoulder and brush the swing on it’s way down then took the seat right next to his.

“Yeah, just try not to puke while it’s still going or it’ll get all over us.” Nora hollered up from behind him, far too loudly. Several of the other passengers near Jaune looked at him nervously and he gave a shy wave. The ride started up with a gentle sway and began slowly spinning. The easy force of the machine let the passengers swing out in a huge arc, carrying them over the water and the walkway around and around in a giant circle. As they picked up into the air the swings swayed slightly in their places and spread out so everyone had room to extend their arms and legs out to the sides and feel like a bird. Yang glanced over and saw Nora holding her arms out behind her and leaning forward, pretending to be an airship, complete with engine noises and gunfire imitations. Yang laughed merrily and stretched her hand out towards her playful little girlfriend. Nora heard her ringing laughter and stretched out to her as well, they reached as far as they could but couldn’t quite reach and so they both just laughed.

Yang looked forward and saw Pyrrha watching Jaune. The boy seemed to be doing alright, he was staring out over the ocean as they passed and then down at the ground as they went over the fair. Then Pyrrha held out her hand much the same as she just had and Yang felt a pang of regret. Pyrrha had wanted to try and hold Jaune’s hand on the swings. That was a pretty romantic idea and a really good one from Pyrrha, but there was no way she could reach Jaune even if he reached out to her as well which wasn’t very likely given how shy he was. Then Yang gasped as Jaune’s swing started to drift closer and closer to Pyrrha’s. The Mistralian girl was slowly working her fingertips in a come hither type motion and Jaune’s swing was obeying. Yang looked closely and could see a faint auric glow around the boy’s seat, emanating from the metal bars that held him up in the air. The steady drift finally caught Jaune’s attention and he looked over to Pyrrha. Her hand was still outstretched but she had ceased the small movements of her fingers, simply holding her hand out and his swing in place. Jaune cocked his head to the side and Pyrrha nodded gently. He reached out his hand and took hold of hers, maintaining that eye contact the entire time. Yang watched and just as their hands met his swing went slack and the weight transferred to their grip. Pyrrha’s timing was impeccable and Jaune didn’t notice a thing.

Yang looked over and saw Nora watching as well, her eyes glued to the sappy little scene unfolding in front of them. The redhead turned and found Yang’s eyes as well. They smiled at each other and laughed quietly, not wanting those two to overhear them. The ride began to slow and Pyrrha and Jaune were forced to release hands. They drifted to a slow stop and were asked to disembark by the attendant on the mic. They walked over to the edge of the platform and waited for Jaune and Pyrrha to join them.

“You saw what I saw as well right?” Ren asked as he approached.

“Oh I know, I might not even need my big secret weapon at this point.” Nora giggled with excitement.

“And I was so excited for it too.” Yang gave her a joking grin. Pyrrha and Jaune finally made their way over to where they were all standing and Yang noticed they were no longer holding hands. She sighed internally but smiled for them as they approached, “You two enjoy the ride?” she put more than a hint of tease into her voice, hoping they would catch her drift. Pyrrha blushed considerably but Jaune just laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh yeah that was a lot of fun.” he turned to Pyrrha, “Thanks for convincing me to go on.” Jaune gave her a warm smile and she returned it underneath scarlet cheeks.

“Of course Jaune, I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Pyrrha looked down at her feet and shuffled slightly.

“We should move,” Ren gestured around them and they noticed they were some of the only passengers from the previous round left and the next set of riders were already making their way towards the swings. They all shuffled out the exit and back out into the walkway.

“Okay, this way.” Nora grabbed Yang’s hand, pointed off into the distance and began marching away without waiting for a reply from the others. Ren laughed quietly and shook his head and Jaune just shrugged. They all went lumbering off behind her, trying to keep up with her rather quick pace through the thinning crowd. Yang allowed herself to be towed along behind her, just trying not to barge into too many people on the way. Before she knew it they were all standing at the base of the giant ferris wheel, “Ta Da.” Nora flung her arms up in a giant ‘V’ putting the slowly spinning wheel of lights and cars on display behind her.

“Nora it’s perfect,” Pyrrha smile was radiant as she looked up at the ride, “This will be wonderful.”

“Come on, come on.” Nora pulled eagerly at Yang’s hand, trying to get her into line but Yang held her spot.

“Ren, the uhh… the cars only hold two.” Yang gave him an uneasy look. Riding the big ferris wheel at sunset like this was definitely romantic couple type activity and she desperately wanted to go on with Nora. However, Ren would either sit it out or ride alone, neither of which seemed like okay options to her. She felt bad that he was left out of a lot of their activities because he didn’t have a partner of some sort, and she felt even worse because it was like she had stolen Nora. “So do you wanna--” Ren cut her off.

“That’s quite alright, I actually think I would prefer to view the sunset from the end of the pier.” Ren pointed off a little ways to the pier that jutted out into the water. “The sound of the waves helps me relax so I think it will be very nice.” he gave them all a small nod of his head.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to just have to wait on us.” Yang stepped forward towards him.

“Really it’s perfectly fine. I want you and Nora,” he turned to Jaune and Pyrrha, “and you two to enjoy the ride.” Yang released Nora’s hand and gave Ren a bone crushing hug. Ren started at the hug and looked over Yang’s shoulder at Nora. Nora gave him a huge smile and nodded so he slowly reached his arms up and patted her on the back. Yang stepped back and Ren smiled.

“Thanks Ren. You’re really the best.” Yang stepped back and grabbed Nora’s hand again and the four of them made their way into the line for the ferris wheel. Ren watched until they disappeared around a bend in the line and then walked slowly off towards the pier, that smile never leaving his lips.

The line didn’t take very long at all and moved really steadily compared to others they had been in today. Yang saw that they didn’t load a lot of people at once, just one car, two people at a time but every car got loaded every time around so they never stopped moving forward.

“Do you ladies want to go first?” Jaune gestured in front of himself.

“Oh no no, you don’t wanna be behind us.” Nora waved her hands.

“Yeah I’m gonna be all over this girl, you don’t wanna see that.” Yang grabbed at Nora’s waist aggressively and she giggled and squirmed under the attention. Jaune and Pyrrha both laughed  and then it was their turn to get on. Yang was happy to see Jaune being a gentlemen about everything but that was nothing new, he was polite like that to everyone. Their car rocked forward slightly and slid up and away, making room for Yang and Nora’s car. The previous occupants got out and they replaced them on the small bench. The attendant shut the door and they swung up and away from the ground gently.

“Do you think this is gonna work?” Yang looked over to her petite little girlfriend.

“I sure hope it does, we’ve spent like all day on the two of them.” Nora sagged against Yang, faking exhaustion. Yang laughed and slid her arm around her.

“Yeah I think we gave them every chance.” Yang leaned down and kissed the crown of Nora’s head, holding her lips against her soft reddish hair. Nora sighed and cuddled into the kiss, pulling herself closer to Yang. Yang released the tender kiss and rested her head on top of Nora’s. The cars floated through the air again and they were now staring into the belly of the ferris wheel, all of it’s complicated machinations on clear display. “Nora, can I ask you something?” Nora leaned back and rolled her head back to meet Yang’s eyes.

“Of course you can silly.” she stretched forward and placed a little kiss on the tip of Yang’s nose.

“Earlier when you, well when you poked me on the nose,” Yang stopped. It wasn’t a thing right, she had just said ‘boop’, she was probably just feeling silly and said a funny word. But, Ren had said that it was a big deal and it had been eating at Yang all day. “I know I’m probably just being weird about it but,” she trailed off again and looked into Nora’s eyes, “Well you said boop when you poked me and I didn’t think much about it but then Ren said that was a big deal and I’ve just been wondering about it all day.” The cars slid up again.

“Oh yeah,” Nora looked down, “ I guess that is kind of a silly thing I do.” she glanced up and stared at the innards of the ride.

“If it wasn’t a huge thing or if I shouldn’t have asked-”

“No Yang it’s okay,” Nora turned back with a smile on her lips, eyes shining in the afternoon sun, “It’s my way of saying something I’m not sure I’m ready to say yet. Or that I don’t think you’re ready to hear me say. Or just because I’m too nervous to actually say it.” The ride rocked gently and Yang looked at Nora and understood exactly what she meant.

“I think I understand Nora. But I have to ask another question.” Nora nodded her head gently and Yang continued, “Was it because you weren’t ready or one of the other reasons?” Nora fidgeted.

“I think I’m ready. I just am really really nervous. I don’t know how you feel and I didn’t wanna scare you away or freak you out or-” Yang leaned down and sealed her lips over the babbling redhead’s. She held her there in a deep passionate kiss until they rolled up again and emerged into the clear open sky.

“I love you Nora.” Yang said the words and they immediately felt natural on her tongue. They hadn’t been together all that long but Yang had never meant those words before with someone other than Ruby or Summer and her Dad. Nora gasped for air as Yang broke the kiss and struggled to catch her breath because of what Yang said. Yang smiled, she had literally taken her breath away by telling her she loved her, what more could she ask for. Nora finally managed to take a steady breath and regain a modicum of composure.

“I love you too Yang.” Nora tackled Yang against the side of the car and kissed her furiously. Yang laughed in between kisses and held her little girlfriend easily on top of her. After a substantial amount of kissing Nora finally relaxed and let out a contented sigh, letting herself relax against Yang’s chest.

“Hey come one, we’re gonna miss the view.” Yang did a slow sit-up lifting Nora along with her so they could look from the top of the ferris wheel. They stared out first over the city and saw the evening lights just starting to twinkle on, bathed in a sea of orange from the setting sun and then turned to look out over the ocean. The sun was just dipping into the ocean, testing the waters with a single, giant, flaming toe. Orange and golden waves rolled endlessly towards the shore, carrying the last bits of the day’s warmth towards them and Yang decided this made her happy. This whole situation, here with her friends at Beacon, training with her team and getting to do it all with her sister. And then there was this girl, this wonderful bubbly little redhead she lived across the hall from and that she had fallen for so easily. Yang was definitely happy. She felt a tap on her shoulder that pulled her out of her reverie and she turned to look at the little redhead that was currently filling her thoughts.

Nora was silent and just pointed to the car in front of them and Yang saw possibly the only thing that could have made her happier in that moment, Jaune and Pyrrha’s arms around each other and their lips pressed firmly together. She turned back to Nora and whispered in her ear.

“Mission accomplished”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that was a long one, and I even managed to get it up in time. I really am sorry about Tuesday's post coming late, hopefully this extra huge chapter going up right on time makes up for it a little.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed their time at the fair, it got rather lengthy but there was a lot of stuff going on with a lot of different characters and it all just sort of got away from me. All in all though I'm happy with how it came out so please let me know what you thought.
> 
> This weekend there will be two more chapters and then on Tuesday I will begin posting "Friends and Loved Ones" to celebrate my birthday with you all. "Clubbin' " still has lots left to go so while they are both being published I will be posting both new chapters on every one of my posting days. That means there should be plenty to read and enjoy.
> 
> Thanks so much for keeping up with it, I hope to see you over on my new story as well.
> 
> -Zach


	19. Adventure Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora takes Yang on that adventure she promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.
> 
> Also, some may think that this chapter perhaps skirts the edge of the 'T' rating, fair warning. It does not however, in any way deserve an 'M' definitely not.

Yang stepped carefully across a branch on the ground and spun slowly on her heel, letting her field of vision drift across the forest floor, scanning for any sign of movement. She raised one arm to her side, lightly pushing the edge of a bush out of her way with  _ Ember Celica _ so it didn’t interfere with her vision. She put her back to the bush and let her vision drift sideways to ensure that Nora still had the lead. The redhead was indeed still at the point of their two woman party,  _ Magnhild _ collapsed into it’s ranged combat form and held defensively in front of her. The girl may be an over-excitable, powerhouse of energy but when it came to hunting Grimm she was as confident and capable as the rest of her friends. 

Yang heard a snapping sound off in the distance and swung her attention towards it, dropping low and scanning for any indication of what had caused it. Nora dropped by her side, shouldered her dust powered grenade launcher and covered Yang’s back.

“I’ve got movement about a hundred yards out, non-Grimm.” Yang whispered in a hoarse voice back to Nora.

“We’re clear on this side.” Nora chimed and Yang stood, confident that they weren’t in any danger yet. She swung a hand down and patted Nora on the shoulder, letting her know she could stand as well. Nora eased out of her crouch and began moving forward again, slowly making her way across the dense forest floor.

They were out here hunting an unknown number and type of Grimm, if they believed it was something they couldn’t handle they were supposed to head back and return with a larger team. But, what could possibly be out here that Yang and Nora couldn’t handle together. They continued forward through the undergrowth, wary of every noise and on the lookout for anything that might indicate Grimm. Yang was sure it was just a bunch or Ursa or a nest of Creeps that had popped up and would be no problem to exterminate. She hoped however that it was at least a Death Stalker or two so they at least got some fun out of the journey. They emerged from the forest and came to a cliff edge and Nora stopped walking, scanning out over the edge to see what lay in the valley below. Yang kept her back to the cliff and her eyes on the treeline behind them.

“Alright, looks like the cave entrance is just down there on the other side.” Yang spared a quick glance over her shoulder to follow Nora’s hand down to the valley floor where there was indeed a rather large cave opening and then snapped her attention back to the tree line.

“Well ladies first.” Yang smiled, knowing Nora loved that line and then braced herself, bending her knees slightly. There was a resounding bang that echoed off the canyon walls and sent dozens of birds flapping away from the trees. A small pink cloud of dust enveloped Yang for a moment before dissipating and she knew Nora was hurtling across the gap, riding  _ Magnhild  _ like a demented scooter. Well, they had been going for the subtle approach for once but it looked like Nora had gotten bored with that. Yang shook her head and let a sloppy grin spread across her lips. She reached down to her waist and grabbed the sunglasses she kept there for just such occasions. Once they were firmly on her face she jumped and fired both arms of  _ Ember Celica  _ directly at the ground, launching herself backwards and towards her flying girlfriend.

A few more blasts from her gauntlets and a neat flip carried Yang to the redhead’s side. She fired both arms straight down again as she landed to dampen the impact and reserve her aura for the certain fight ahead. A quick scan of the clearing showed that they were rather alone, although honestly, between the combined sounds of Yang and Nora’s weapons going off it wasn’t a surprise. Yang felt a warm pair of lips against her cheek.

“You ready?” Nora asked and Yang turned to meet her eyes.

“As long as I’m with you.” She gave the smaller girl a quick kiss on the lips and turned to face the cave opening, “So what do you wanna-” The booming thuds of  _ Magnhild’s _ launcher mode cut Yang off as Nora repeatedly fired into the cave. Yang watched as the pink shells carried deep into the entrance , taking the chance to remove her sunglasses, and saw the grenades fly  over an invisible cliff inside. Nora kept firing until they heard the first round find purchase in the darkness. The resulting cacophony of explosions shook the ground around them, that cave network must extend fairly extensively through the mountains. Clouds of pink dust rose up in the cave in front of them, illuminated by the fiery explosions they came from. 

“I think that should get their attention.” Nora cackled and rolled  _ Magnhild _ over her wrist, sliding the long handle out and letting the mighty hammer’s head fall against the floor.

“That’s one way,” Yang flicked both wrists outward, discarding the shells she had used to cross the gap and fitted a few more shells in place, preparing for an extended conflict. As the deafening sound of the explosions and clouds of pink explosive faded away Yang could see a huge number of red eyes slowly growing larger in the darkness of the cave, “Oh boy, that’s either a bunch of little guys or a couple real big ones.”

“Oh I hope it’s big ones. I really really hope it’s big ones.” Nora brought the hammer up into both hands and crouched in anticipation. The sound of scuttling feet began to echo out of the hole in the side of the mountain and Nora squealed, “Yes yes YES. It is big ones!” Several injured Death Stalkers emerged into the midday sun, scuttling along with broken limbs and one even missing it’s stinger completely. Nora charged forward, hammer held high and battle cry sounding loud in the forest whose peace she had ruined.

“Hey leave some for me,” Yang went charging after her but she knew Nora was faster and she had gotten a headstart. The redhead reached the giant scorpion like Grimm first and planted the face of her hammer directly against the frontmost Death Stalker’s face. The running start combined with Nora’s strength and the explosion weakened armor meant that it went down with a single blow. Nora whooped in victory as the mighty beast collapsed and disintegrated to dust around her. Yang leapt over her head and let loose a volley of shells at the next opponent. The small rounds bounced harmlessly off its thick faceplate but caused it to stutter and shut its eyes to avoid being blinded. Yang landed on it’s massive back with a thud and ran directly at the base of the monstrosity’s tail. As she sprinted along its spine she fired her gauntlets repeatedly at the curved mass holding it’s stinger aloft in the air, each blow took another chunk of the thinner flexible armor off until Yang could see the exposed flesh beneath. She leapt forward, firing both her arms downwards to propel herself and keep the beast stunned, wrapped her arms around the tail and pulled hard until she heard a tearing noise. The tail came off in a solid piece, separating where she had been shooting. The beast screamed in agony as it collapsed and faded slowly away. Yang swung the tail around as she fell through the air where the Death Stalker had been and brought the stinger down on the head of the next Grimm approaching her which just happened to be the one without a stinger. “Here I think you’re missing this,” The stinger sank through the armor, razor sharp blade piercing through the thick bone and both it and the third Death Stalker faded away. 

Yang spun around to see Nora running along the side of the final enemy, breaking its legs with  _ Magnhild _ . She smashed through the final leg on that side and the beast tilted to one side, falling heavily on it’s now useless appendages. Yang laughed as she watched the beast spin in a stationary circle, trying desperately to keep the cackling redhead in its field of vision. Nora made her way quickly behind the injured creature and swung her hammer up under it’s backside with such force that the beast flipped over and landed on its back, tail, pincers and remaining legs thrashing about, trying to find purchase on the empty air. Nora continued the swing over her head and behind her and fired a round of dust into the ground which propelled her up into air, then brought all that force down on the Grimm’s soft, exposed underbelly. There was a crack as it struck straight through their foe and made contact with the inside of it’s back armor on the other side. Black ooze poured out of the gaping hole and then it too faded away into nothing.

“Dust that was a fun one.” Nora lifted her mighty hammer above her head in both hands and cheered. Yang flicked her gauntlets away, sprinted over to her girlfriend and put a big kiss right on her lips. Nora laughed at first but Yang kept pressing, walking her backwards until she had her pressed against a tree. When Nora’s back hit the tree she made a pleased grunting noise and dropped her hammer to her side, subconsciously folding it back into a grenade launcher and clipping it on her hip. She threw her arms around Yang’s waist and pulled the blonde onto her. Yang lifted a leg against Nora’s side and pressed her pelvis against the girl’s torso. She put her opposite hand against the tree to pin Nora between it and her and tangled her other set of fingers in that lovely mop of red hair. Yang pulled away and could hear Nora gasp for air.

“That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen you do.” Yang slid her hand out of Nora’s hair and down to the base of her skull, pulling her into another deep kiss without giving her a chance to respond. She felt Nora let one hand slide up her back and the other down over her waist to grab her butt. Yang moaned and leaned into the grope, flexing her thigh just enough so that Nora could feel her firm muscles. She pulled away again, letting a small string of saliva hang in the small gap between their lips. Yang could feel her chest heaving, not from the battle but from the excitement she was feeling now. Her cheeks were hot and red and her legs ached like she couldn’t believe.

“Wow Yang,” Nora panted for breath, “That was just incredible,” Nora leaned in to continue making out with the big blonde but both of their bodies tensed hard as another presence entered the clearing. Yang yanked herself away from Nora and spun around to face the new threat, throwing her arms forward and re-equipping her  _ Ember Celica _ . A massive King Taijitu slithered out of the cave, dragging rocks and foliage along with its enormous body. Yang bellowed at the beast, allowing her Aura to rush to her extremities and flood her vision with red anger.

“No.” she screamed at the top of her lungs, “You do not get to interrupt us.” she took a single step forward, searing the grass around her with the intense heat her body was radiating. The massive serpent coiled into a pool and hissed at her, the long noise seeming to hang in the air. Yang let out a scream and charged forward, propelled through the gap by her intense energy. The snake lunged down at her, attempting to swallow her whole but Yang tucked and rolled under the massive fangs and they sank into the ground, lodging the King Taijitu into the forest floor and anchoring it’s head down. Yang smirked as she came out of the roll and planted a heavy punch directly against its lower jaw. The sound of cracking bone accompanied the explosive bang of  _ Ember Celica’s  _ firing and the black snake’s head was no longer attached to it’s body. Yang spun around just in time to physically catch the fang’s of the white snake as it tried to impale her with its venomous teeth. She yelled in fury as she pulled outwards on the fangs until they snapped off. The gleaming white serpent recoiled back in pain, thrashing its head about to no avail. Yang hefted one fang like a spear and launched it towards the beast’s head with her powerful arm. Her timing was true and the tooth sank deep into its eye, making contact with the thrashing beast. Yang hefted the other in her off hand and fired it as well. The beast had stopped thrashing due to the impact of the first tooth and it was all the time Yang needed to ensure that the second one found purchase as well. It sank deep into the snake’s skull and the beast nearly exploded in a cloud of black powder, quickly drifting away on the scattered breeze. Yang took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as she let her eyes fade back to their brilliant purple.

She felt a hard tackle against her back and went sprawling into the ground. Yang quickly spun around under the new assault, ready for whatever faced her, only to find a brilliant pair of pale blue eyes beaming down at her.

“Oh no, you win.  _ That _ was the sexiest thing ever.” Nora collapsed onto Yang, letting her lips fall hard against her big blonde girlfriend’s. Yang threw her arms around the petite girl, letting herself fall backwards hard against the ground and held her tight. She kept one hand against the square of her back, balancing the redhead on top of her and let the other slide up to her head, cupping her ear and applying pressure from behind with her wrist. Yang felt Nora’s lip part and slid her tongue hungrily inside the smaller girl’s mouth. Nora moaned against Yang, relishing in the feel of her tongue darting around inside her. 

Yang rolled her over, putting Nora on the bottom and pulled up and away. A wall of blonde hair fell around their heads, curtaining them off from the outside world and casting their faces in a gentle yellow light. Yang smiled greedily down at Nora and was happier than she could put into words to see Nora blushing and smiling back up, breaths coming as ragged as her own.

“I think, maybe we shouldn’t do this in the forest.” Nora said quietly after a moment of hungry staring, almost afraid to stop what was happening. Yang breathed deeply and exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself without seeming disappointed, even though she was.

“You’re right. You’re totally right.” Yang opened her eyes and found Nora’s again, pleading her not to be upset, “That doesn’t mean we can’t roll around and make out some more though right?”

“Oh definitely not,” Nora lunged up and tangled her fingers behind Yang’s neck, pulling her face back down to hers and resuming their previous kiss. Though this time with a lot less passion and even less groping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Keep it short and sexy and leave them wanting more right? Right. So, Nora isn't trying to tease Yang she just didn't want them to get caught up in the moment and do something in the middle of the woods that probably shouldn't happen there. They're both right on that edge of doing more with each other, just you wait. But do remember this is rated 'T' so there won't be much explicitly explained. Whether you prefer that or not, that's just the way it's gonna be for this one.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the combat scenes as well. I really really enjoy writing out combat and I like to think it comes out believable (for RWBY combat obviously) and easy to follow. "Friends and Loved Ones" has some much longer fight scenes, Hunter v Hunter/humanoids as well as Hunters and Grimm so please let me know what you thought of this fight scene so it can influence my other work.
> 
> As always please let me know if you loved it or hated it. I only learn when you tell me what I did so please tell me. That, or just let me know what you thought. Whatever it is I absolutely love talking to my readers so please Review or just PM me.
> 
> There's part one of the weekend double feature, I hope you enjoyed it and please stay tuned for tomorrow's post. Thanks so much for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	20. Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora gets pancakes, is there anything else that matters?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang inhaled deeply and released her breath in a hurried huff, trying desperately to calm herself. She should not be so nervous about something like this but surprises were so hard to do when you live across the hallway from someone and Nora absolutely loved surprises so she didn’t want to mess this up. She checked her scroll again, not thirty seconds ago Nora had told her she was gonna be out with Pyrrha for another hour or so. That gave Yang plenty of time to get in there and talk to Ren, plenty of time before Nora got back. She knocked on the door gently. 

“Yes?” she heard Ren’s gentle voice echo out from behind the door.

“Oh, uhh hey it’s Yang. Can I come in?” Yang tried to keep her voice even but looked nervously up and down the hallway, expecting a redheaded bundle of joy and smiles to come bounding up the stairs at any moment.

“Of course, you know you don’t have to ask.” Yang quickly opened the door and darted inside, closing it and locking it behind her, “But Nora isn’t here right now.” Ren finished perfectly evenly, although he did cock his head to the side in confusion.

“Sorry Ren, I just. I need to talk to you and I don’t want Nora to know.” Yang pressed her back to the door as if she could use her immense muscles to put off Nora’s arrival a little while longer.

“Is there something the matter? If anything is wrong you really should discuss it with Nora directly.” Ren stated flatly, leaning forward with concern and Yang breathed a short laugh of relief.

“No, no nothing like that. We are doing really really awesome, really.” Yang tried her best to convince Ren with a nod of her head, “I actually just sort of need your advice, or maybe your help with something to surprise her.” Ren tilted his head back and sat ramrod straight again as usual, a warm smile gracing his sharp features.

“Ahh of course. I would be more than happy to help.” Ren rested his hands gently on his lap and regarded her patiently.

“Okay, so on our first date, I maybe, kinda, sorta way exaggerated my cooking skills to Nora and promised to make her really awesome pancakes because you know, she loves pancakes.” Ren nodded his head in simple affirmation of this well known fact. “Well, I told her I used to cook pancakes for Ruby growing up and I did, it’s just that cooking for Ruby is really easy, make ‘em sweet and don’t burn anything and she just devours it. I tried making a few for Blake and Weiss to test them out, make sure I hadn’t lost my touch.” Yang laughed nervously, “Weiss said there was no way I ever had a touch at all.” Ren nodded in understanding and folded his hands.

“I see, well I could show you how I make them. But, you would have to add some flair of your own to make it special for her.” Ren tilted his head forward slightly, requesting a response of Yang.

“Oh yeah, I’ve got a great idea. But I really don’t wanna say it out loud. I know she loves surprises so I’m trying to keep the whole thing a really big secret. Seriously.” Yang pleaded with him, she knew the two were far beyond best friends and wanted Ren to understand that it would be better for Nora as a surprise. The quiet boy nodded his head with a slow blink of his eyes, confirming that he would not let Nora know, “You’re an amazing guy you know that Ren.” Yang gave him a wide smile, happy that her girlfriend had such an amazing best friend.

“Thank you Yang,” Ren took a deep breath as if preparing himself for something, “I actually wanted to thank you for the other day at the fair. I had a wonderful time. Like I haven’t had in quite some time.” He looked back up and his purple eyes met hers, “Truly thank you.”

“Oh yeah of course Ren. It was a blast. I had no idea you liked roller coasters and stuff so much.” Yang planted her hands on her hips, relaxing more now that the topic had left the dangerous area of her surprise for Nora.

“I,” he paused again, “I haven’t had many friends outside of Nora and it meant a lot to be brought along like that with all of you and made a part of the group so easily. I know it was my team, but you are like Nora in that you easily fit in with people. I guess I was concerned that there would be tension.” he looked out the window at a bird which had lighted on the edge of the building. For a moment he was quiet, just watching the bird flit about the ledge. He turned back to Yang only once it had taken wing once more, “You made a constant effort to include me and ensure I was comfortable and enjoying myself. It was incredibly considerate.”

Yang didn’t know how to respond to that. She knew Ren was sort of a recluse and not very outgoing but he was an attractive guy, very talented and put together, incredibly focused. She had never seen him as having social anxieties like that, had always figured he chose the nearly solitary existence voluntarily and preferred it.

“I’m glad you had a good time Ren. You ever need help with stuff, or even just wanna hang, just let me know.” Yang gave him a winning smile, “I know some cute girls too if you’re interested.” Ren chuckled lightly at that, closing his eyes at even this gentle expression of mirth, “I mean I know some cute boys too, if that’s more your speed.” Yang cocked a playful eyebrow at him and though he continued to chuckle he raised a defensive hand.

“No, no, I am interested in women. It’s just, I’ve never really pursued one before.” Ren regained control of himself and locked eyes with Yang again.

“Well I’m sure you wouldn’t have any trouble if you ever did. You’re a good looking guy Ren.” Yang moved off to the side and leaned against one of the bedposts in the room. It appeared their conversation was going to carry on for some time now.

“I thank you for the compliment. I believe my largest problem has always been finding a partner that I actually desired enough to make some sort of advance.” Ren tilted his head to the side and the single fluorescent pink lock of hair fell across his face, “Not that I believe myself to be deserving of someone remarkable,” Yang went to smash his self-deprecation but he raised a hand gently and she stopped, “I just have a very particular taste and I don’t see the point in pursuing anyone else.” Yang snapped her mouth shut and thought for a moment.

“Well, then I guess I just have to know what your type is? Do you want someone shorter or taller than you? Do you like ample proportions?” Yang made a suggestive motion around her own ‘ample proportions, “Or someone more slender?” Yang had more traits to rattle off but stopped as Ren chuckled again.

“You misunderstand. I did not mean physical appearance. I meant their personality. I am rather timid in conversation,” Yang suppressed a bark of laughter at the understatement, “So I would like someone reserved, but at the same time I want someone livelier than I and with a calm sense of humor.” Ren looked down at his folded hands, “Not as quiet as Blake, or as reserved as Weiss, but not as energetic as Ruby or as much of a comedian as yourself,” he gave her a small smile and Yang grinned at the description.

“I can’t really think of anyone off the top of my head, but if it was that easy you wouldn’t be telling me would you?” Yang watched as Ren again nodded his head in affirmation and then swung it back with just enough force to flick the strand of pink hair back out of his face, “I’ll keep my eyes out for you though and let you know if someone comes to mind.” She gave him a big reassuring smirk.

“Please don’t put yourself out over it, I’m not sure why I even brought it up. But, thank you Yang, again.” Ren’s grin grew slightly and Yang saw the very slightest hint of redness in his always placid cheeks but said nothing about her observation.

“Well I better get out of here before Nora shows back up. Still wanna keep it a secret and all.” Yang pushed off of the bedpost and sauntered towards the door but spared one last glance back at the slender young man, “Maybe someone a little older, more mature?” she shrugged her shoulders and swung through the door, closing it with a gentle thud behind her.

Yang emerged into the hallway and did a quick glance each direction to ensure Nora hadn’t been lurking in wait and seen her emerge. She was relieved to see that the hallway was empty and her secret was safe and then heard a definitely familiar pounding on the stairs to their floor. She quickly moved to the center of the hallway and headed towards the stairs, so as to appear as if she had been on her way out of the building. Nora appeared at the top of the stairs, landing in a deep crouch, Yang could tell she had jumped past the last few steps in excitement.

“Hey there blondie, you lookin’ for a good time?” Nora tried to sound sultry which was extremely difficult given that she was crouched like a bullfrog at the top of the stairs. Yang laughed and jogged easily over to her. Nora extended her legs like pistons and launched herself directly at the bigger girl, Yang caught her up in her arms and Nora wrapped her legs around Yang’s thickly muscled torso.

“I think I just found one,” Yang kissed Nora deeply and pulled away just in time to see Pyrrha ascending the stairs calmly. Nora caught Yang’s upraised eyebrow and hung off her side, the blonde easily supporting the weight of the shorter girl against her hip, “Hey Pyrrha, have fun shopping?” Pyrrha gave Yang a genuine smile and lifted a large bag hanging off her right arm.

“Oh yes it was splendid. The styles offered here are very different from what we have in Mistral.” Pyrrha crested the staircase and stood across from the couple.

“We’re no Atlas but we have some good stuff.” Yang shifted Nora’s weight so she hung a little closer to her and Nora cinched her legs tighter around Yang, leaving one arm over her neck and letting the other hang loosely so she could also speak with Pyrrha, “You two are back earlier than I thought though.

“Well yeah, when I messaged you we had like a bunch of clothes and I thought we’d have to sort through them all but Pyrrha just bought every single outfit she had picked out,” Nora chuckled, “I’ve never seen someone throw around money like that.” Pyrrha blushed brightly and looked away.

“I didn’t mean to.. I just rather liked some of the more expensive clothing.” she coughed and raised her eyes back to them, “Tournament winnings are very generous.” she gave them a gentle smile.

“Don’t worry Pyrrha, you’ll still never compare to Weiss. She bought this one dress that cost a couple hundred Lien. Then she never even wore it, she said it didn’t hang right once she got it home. It’s just sitting in her closet now.” Yang laughed uproariously and Nora joined her, Pyrrha’s laugh was a little more restrained but equally jovial.

“Now she’s got all kinds of stuff to wear when she and Jaune go out though.” Nora gave Yang a big grin, “Some really cute stuff too, show off her hips some.” Pyrrha blushed and Nora gave Yang a very suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

“Oh boy, Jaune is in for a treat.” Yang turned back to Pyrrha, “Those legs just don’t quit.”

“Please, please stop,” Pyrrha face was as red as her hair and she was looking directly at the ground. “Really, you’re embarrassing me.” Yang and Nora both relented.

“Well I just hope the boy dresses himself to match.” Yang stifled the last of her laughter.

“Don’t worry, I told Ren to make sure he was ready to play the part whenever they go out.” Nora grinned triumphantly, “He knows what he’s doing.”

“I must be going.” Pyrrha bowed her head slightly and made for the Team JNPR door, “Jaune and I are meeting for training and I don’t want to be late.” She tried to duck past the two without further incident but they hollered at her as she tried to slip through the door.

“Don’t kick his ass too hard.” Nora quipped.

“Yeah, you might scare the poor boy off.” Yang laughed as Pyrrha disappeared into the relative safety of her dorm and Ren’s presence.

“So what’s up?” Nora swung back around to put both arms around Yang’s neck again.

“Well,” she pulled Nora up and gave her a brief kiss, “I was thinking,” another kiss, “that we could grab some dinner,” another slightly longer kiss. Nora pulled away from the latest contact with a grin.

“Is anyone home?” she motioned with her head towards the Team RWBY dorm.

“Yes,” Yang huffed, “Everyone is home.” her shoulders fell in exasperation.

“Then dinner it is.” Nora gave her another kiss and plopped down on her feet.

 

* * *

 

Yang kicked the pan quickly forward and back, throwing the battery deliciousness lightly into the air and over in a tight arc to land on the less cooked side back in the pan. Nora clapped her hands happily.

“Ooh very nice.” She giggled merrily and rocked back and forth on her stool. 

“Alright, you’ve gotta close your eyes for a second,” Yang gave Nora a devious smirk across the stove top and she quickly closed her eyes.

“Aye, aye captain. Eyes shut.” Nora drummed her fingers happily on the countertop in front of her, rocking her head back and forth with uncontainable energy.

Yang quickly reached under the counter and grabbed her specially prepared bottle of strawberry flavored batter. She twisted the nozzle open slightly and flipped it over carefully. She gently but quickly drew a large pink heart on the pancake and then the message “NV + YX” in crude but legible letters inside the heart. She set the bottle back down in its hiding place and grabbed a spatula, flipping the pancake back over and being careful not to damage the design, just as she had practiced with Ren.

“Alright, you can open ‘em” Nora’s eyes flew open the moment Yang gave her permission and she darted her gaze all around the counter, in the pan, over the counter top and then scattered around the room, trying desperately to see what Yang had done.

“You.” she regarded Yang playfully, “You are a sneaky one you know that?” Yang laughed and blew a kiss at the redhead.

“She isn’t that sneaky!” a high pitched voice yelled from the doorway to the shared student kitchen. Yang swung her head around to the one thing she had feared interrupting she and Nora’s pancake date, her little sister. “Yang’s making pancakes!” Ruby ran full tilt towards the oven and Yang swiveled to position herself between the stovetop and her careless sister’s charge. Luckily for her, Nora bellowed out and leapt from her stool, clear across the counter and directly into Ruby.

“They’re mine.” she shouted playfully and tackled the little brunette to the ground. The two went to the floor giggling and Yang sighed despite herself. At least if she and Nora stayed together for really long time there would never be any issue with her girlfriend and sister getting along. Yang watched on happily as the two fumbled about on the ground with each other and continued cooking pancakes. She started a fresh batch and then spun around to the fridge and removed a bag of chocolate chips she had prepared just in case. She poured an unhealthy amount of the sweet little confections into the most recent batch of batter and returned the chocolate to the fridge so Ruby wouldn’t devour it all and go on a sugar fueled rampage.

The two petite girls sprang from the floor and Yang gave them a cautious glance. If they had stopped fighting it could mean only one thing, they had formed an alliance and planned to team up against her.

“Oh no no no.” Yang held out a very maternal finger, “You come after me and these delicious pancakes are gonna burn.” Yang titled the pan slightly so Ruby could see the enormous quantity of chocolate resting in the batter. The little brunette’s eyes lit up and then her shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Okay Yang, you win.” She drug herself over to the stools where Nora had been sitting, “Some of those are for me though right?” She lifted a flawless puppydog pout from her forlorn slump. Yang knew it was coming and stared pointedly at the pancakes, not willing to let the powerful stare have even a chance of winning her over.

“Of course they are Rubes. How could I make ‘em and not have some for you?” She raised her eyes cautiously, hoping the pout had evaporated in a grin of anticipatory glee. She did indeed find Ruby beaming over the pan, eyes shining with happiness.

“Wooooohoooo, best big sister ever.” Ruby threw her arms in the air and leaned back in her stool, immediately tumbling backwards and returning to the floor in a bundle of cloak and overexcited teenager. Yang shook her head again but perked up when she felt a loving pair of lips pressed against her cheek.

“Yeah, best big sister and best girlfriend ever.” Nora whispered in a low husky voice that made Yang weak in the knees.

“Shoo, shoo, get outta here.” she smacked at Nora’s perky little butt with the spatula and she playfully danced back around the counter and leaned over to help Ruby off the ground.

“Oh thanks Nora. I got a little excited there.” Ruby bounced to her feet and shook her short hair out, dispelling the shock from the fall. Nora grinned and flew back into her stool once Ruby was on her feet and the younger girl joined up next to her.

“Soooooo Ruby,” Nora turned slowly on her, “Whatcha been up to lately?”

“Hmm?” Ruby turned innocently to Nora, “Not a lot really. Been studying and training with my sweetheart a whole bunch.” Nora giggled.

“You and Weiss are already using pet names for each other? Aww that’s adorable.” Yang had to stifle a cough and sort of choked on the noise as Nora giggled and Ruby floundered about in confusion.

“Wuh? Huh? No I meant _Crescent Rose_.” Ruby waved her hands desperately back and forth in between herself and Nora, “I’ve been practicing a lot with my scythe.” she enunciated overly carefully as if one slip of the tongue and she would lead Nora to believe she was speaking of her platinum haired partner again.

“Okay, yeah sure.” Nora mocked, “And you’re adorable little partner just happened to be there the whole time right?” Ruby looked very blatantly at a blank spot of ceiling.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” she cleared her throat with an audible grumble, “We’re uhh, we’re partners so we train together a lot. Yeah.”

“You know Rubes. Nora and I train together a lot too.” Yang tossed another pancake in the air and dropped the comment nonchalantly as if it carried no more than its absolute literal meaning.

“We really got some good work in in the forest just the other day. Killed some Grimm too.” Nora chuckled and Yang hid a blush by turning around to look through the fridge even though she was nearly done and needed nothing else.

“Yeah, it’s great. I’m really proud of you two. Very professional.” Ruby seemed to be studying the blank spot of ceiling, tilting her head to the side and trying to glean some unknown secret from it’s flat, featureless, tan surface.

“I don’t know if we’re quite professionals but I’m sure we put on quite a show.” Nora smirked and now Ruby blushed as well.

“Hey guess what, pancakes are ready.” Yang slid two plates in front of each girl, first Nora and then Ruby. Both girls now had two massive stacks of steaming hotcakes each. Then Yang reached beneath the counter again and grabbed the strawberry syrup for Nora and chocolate syrup for Ruby, putting the bottles in front of each of them, “Sorry Nora I couldn’t get any fresh strawberries to put in them for you.” Yang gave her an apologetic grin and shrugged, “I guess this’ll have to do.” she snaked her arm back to the shelf and grabbed a fifth plate with a single pancake on it and placed the monogrammed dish in front of her girlfriend. Nora’s eyes lit up instantly upon seeing it.

“Oh my Oum Yang. It’s incredible,” she dropped her silverware with a clatter and clutched her hands together beneath her chin. Ruby craned her neck over Nora’s shoulder to get a better look at the decorated pancake.

“Wow Yang, when did you learn to do that?” she chirped from behind the redhead and Yang ran a quick hand across her throat and then put her finger to her lips, begging her little sister to shut up. Ruby closed her mouth with a pop and quickly returned completely to her own seat.

“Can I? I mean can I eat it?” Nora lifted her eyes to Yang, “It’s so pretty, I don’t wanna.”

“No you have to. I made this strawberry batter for you special with a recipe I found.” Yang gave her a wide grin. Nora’s pleased face broke into an open mouthed hungry stare and she grabbed her silverware back up and dug in without a second of further hesitation.

Yang watched happily as the two girls devoured the food, barely making a noise besides munching, chewing and pleased little hums of happiness.

“I take it you two are enjoying them?” Yang asked as Nora polished off the first plate, running the last bite around the ceramic surface to scoop the last vestiges of syrup up.

“Oh yeah Yang, they’re amazing.” Nora smiled and shoved the bite in her waiting mouth.

“They’re even better than I remember.” Ruby shot Yang a knowing smirk and took another bite, impressively nearly keeping up with Nora’s pace.

“So are you and Weiss like secretly dating now or what?” Yang asked, again maintaining an even tone as she turned around and got some milk out of the fridge to pour them all a drink. Ruby spit a large chunk of pancake out in surprise, plastering the wad of breading and chocolate against the far wall. Yang closed the door to the fridge and stared at the bit of food slowly oozing its way towards the floor. “You’re cleaning that up.” she said as she set the milk down and grabbed some cups.

“What’s with you two? Me and Weiss are so not dating.” Ruby smacked her fists against the countertop in all her pint sized fury. Yang handed out the cups full of milk and laughed as Ruby attempted to both guzzle the milk and maintain her perturbed look.

“Well, I mean Ruby come on. When Blake didn’t come to the fair with us, she was with Sun. And I know there’s no way you would miss out on all those sweets and getting to try and help with ‘Operation: Get Jaune to Notice Pyrrha’ just to study.” Yang leveled the knowing gaze only an old sister can have at Ruby and then calmly sipped at her chilled cup. Ruby seemed flustered and took another large bite of her pancakes to avoid having to immediately respond.

Yang turned to put the milk away and pulled back from the fridge to see a certain serene white haired glyph caster standing in the entryway.

“Oh hey Weiss. Pancake?” Yang offered and Ruby coughed, again launching a chunk of pancake at the far wall.

“Ughck,” Weiss made a guttural noise of disgust somewhere in her throat, “Really Ruby. That is just disgusting.” The slender heiress strutted across the kitchen in her ever present heels and grabbed a washcloth from the sink. “I swear if it weren’t for me you all would live in absolute squalor.” She raised the cloth and began wiping at the smear on the wall. She grabbed a napkin and scooped the two chunks of food up and deposited them in the trashcan and then returned to wiping at the wall, muttering all the while about the different atrocities Yang and Ruby committed against cleanliness on a daily basis and the absolute splendor she tried fruitlessly to uphold. Yang smugly faced her girlfriend and gave her a not so subtle wink. Nora chuckled through a mouth full of pancakes and nodded her head aggressively in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I may have felt a little bad that yesterday's chapter was so short. I know that as a reader when I am eagerly anticipating a new chapter and it comes out super short I'm always a little bummed. So here's today's 4k+ word piece to try and make amends. Plus, that's back to back so not a lot of waiting in between right?
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed pancake night as much as the girls. Definitely getting a little more into Weiss and Ruby here than before. They haven't made a lot of appearances so far, especially Weiss and that's just unacceptable. Also, Yang and Nora are finally getting around to those promises of shared adventures and delicious pancakes. Lots of great fluff for the two of them.
> 
> Finally, I'll address the very beginning of the chapter. What was that with Ren right? Well you'll just have to wait and see, or figure it out for yourself. I didn't try to hide it quite that hard. Either way, I think it'll be great and a lot of fun through the remainder of this little story.
> 
> I'm still constantly floored by the response this gets here. Really, I'm brand new at this whole thing and you all are just so great to me. Thank you so much for reading. Also, this Tuesday you will get another chapter of Clubbin' alongside the premier, super amazing, probably not that great opening chapter of "Friends and Loved Ones". Honestly, I've been working on it for a really, really long time and I hope you all enjoy it. But, even if you don't it's already done so oh well.
> 
> You're all the best, keep on being awesome.
> 
> -Zach


	21. Hello Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Nora get interrupted by Jaune and Pyrrha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang slid her hand along Nora’s waist, her shirt had pulled up just barely and she could feel Nora’s soft, pale skin. It was so smooth under her calloused fingers, it felt like silk. Nora moaned into their kiss, she was lying under Yang and had her fingers all tangled in Yang’s hair. Yang usually never let anyone touch her hair, but it felt so good when Nora rubbed her fingers along her scalp or pulled her hair ever so slightly from behind. Nora did just that and Yang arched her neck back, pulling away fromt the kiss and letting out a low hum of pleasure. Nora took full advantage and strung a slow line of kisses down Yang’s neck, inching closer and closer to her cleavage. Yang could feel her cheeks and chest growing hot as Nora’s kisses passed her collarbone and she planted a light peck just at the top of her breast.

Yang slid her hand the rest of the way behind Nora and pulled her closer so their hips were pressed against each other, separated only by the insubstantial barrier of clothing and the ever weakening strength of their restraint. She slid her hand just under Nora’s shirt, putting the full of her palm and fingers against her firm, muscled torso and Nora glanced up from her place at Yang’s chest. Yang looked down and saw the want and the desire in Nora’s pale eyes and knew it was reflected in hers as well.

There was a soft but definitely audible knock at JNPR’s door.

“Yang, Nora. It’s Pyrrha, may I come in?” the soft melodious voice of their friend rang out from the hallway but it was like crunching steel and Professor Goodwitch’s nails on a chalkboard to Yang. “I have Jaune with me as well.”

Yang leaned down and quickly gave Nora one final kiss.

“Sorry,” Nora whispered up at her as they slid apart to a more appropriate distance. Nora shifted a little and fixed her shirt as she called out, “Yeah guys come on in.” Yang flung her hair out over her left shoulder to hopefully cover the little bite marks she was sure Nora had left along her neckline earlier. Jaune and Pyrrha came into the room wearing their post workout clothes. Jeans and a simple t-shirt for Jaune, as always, and a little pair of red athletic shorts and a tank top for Pyrrha. They were still glistening with sweat and Jaune had all the disheveled looks of having just been thrown about a training room for the past few hours.

“Hello,” Pyrrha waved happily as they came in.

“Hey guys, sorry if we’re interrupting or anything.” Jaune started to blush even at the implied mention of what they had been doing.

“It’s okay Jaune, we’re just gonna have to figure out a schedule or something.” Yang laughed, “I mean you two are gonna need time too right?” Jaune’s blush deepened and Pyrrha coughed in surprise.

“Yeah, that’s fair right?” Nora looked innocently back and forth between Yang and the other couple, “Unless you two already found somewhere private.”

“They do look like they worked up quite a sweat.” Yang turned to Nora.

“But Jaune looks beat and Pyrrha’s just fine.” Nora nodded her head over towards the, immaculate as ever, champion of Mistral.

“At least that means Jaune’s putting in the effort to-” Yang stopped with a chuckle as Pyrrha interrupted her.

“We were training, in the field by the library. Trying to prepare for the Vytal Festival.” she said much more loudly than she needed to, “Plenty of people could see us if you need proof.” Jaune stared at the ground, too red to speak.

“Oh yeah okay, whatever you say.” Nora shot Pyrrha a little smirk and the taller girl just sighed in resignation.

“I’m going to take a shower.” Pyrrha turned to Jaune, “Is it alright with you if I go first?” Jaune seemed to jump from his embarrassed slump and lock in with her gaze.

“Yeah of course. Take as long as you want.” He gave her a warm smile, letting the rest of the world, Yang and Nora’s teasing, his exhaustion, all of it fade away. He just focused in on those big, green, caring orbs. Pyrrha reached forward and grasped his hand, giving it a little squeeze and then headed off towards the bathroom.

“You know you can join her if you want?” Yang chimed out and broke Jaune from his bliss.

“Yeah the walls are real thick, we won’t hear a thing.” Nora laughed out loud and Jaune threw himself at his mattress with a huff.

“I’m so tired.” he moaned, muffled by the pillows and comforter pushing against his face.

“Come on Jaune, did you see Pyrrha? You can’t be too tired for that.” Yang slid her arm back over Nora’s shoulders. Jaune rolled over onto his back and sighed. They all heard the hiss of the shower starting up in the other room. A moment or two passed and then Yang looked over at the blonde boy laying on the bed.

“Alright Jaune,you gonna just tell us what's up or are we gonna have to force it out of you?” Yang asked and he lifted just his head to look over at her, confusion evident on his face. Yang cocked her head to the side and gave him a knowing look. Nora leaned up from her spot on Yang and looked over to Jaune as well.  Yang felt her hands sliding off her lap and knew exactly what was coming, she leaned back to give Nora plenty of room and Jaune’s face slid from dumbfounded to terrified as he caught on, he tried desperately to scramble out of the way. But it was too late.

Nora sprang the distance between their beds and landed with her butt squarely on Jaune’s chest, pinning him to the bed. Yang laughed at the loud groan Jaune let out. She knew the impact hadn’t hurt him and he was just disappointed because now there was no way for him to evade their interrogation. Yang scooted off the bed and walked over to sit next to his head, she let her hand fall to his face and patted him gently on the forehead.

“How have you and Pyrrha been? Really?” Yang looked down at Jaune’s defeated face. Nora bounced up and down lightly on his chest, giggling.

“We want every little detail. Did you make sure you looked really good for your date? Did you two kiss yet. Have you even held her hand?” Jaune groaned a little at Nora’s bouncing and she stopped. He sighed and slumped limp against the bed.

“Yeah, I made sure I looked nice. Ren really helped and Pyrrha even said I looked good.” Jaune rolled his head off to the side so he didn’t have to look at either of them.

“And you told her she looked gorgeous right?” Yang lifter had hand from his head, “I know she did Nora took her shopping.” Nora's grin grew in pride.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, “I uhh, I tried to but I honestly didn’t do a lot of talking. She was so beautiful and I couldn’t believe we were out on a date. Me, little Jaune out with Pyrrha.” Nora spun around in her seat, his chest, to face him and crossed her legs on top of him.

“What are you talking about? You’ve been partners all year. You should be super comfortable with each other.”

“But this was so different from that. When we were just partners, I felt so easy around her. But now, I feel like I have to be worthy of her. She’s so amazing and I’m just,” he trailed off and looked back at them, “I’m just me.” Yang and Nora both dropped their joking smiles. Nora eased off his chest to the opposite side of the bed as Yang and they both leaned down and hugged him for a moment.

“You’re not  _ just _ you. You’re Jaune Arc, blonde stud muffin and leader of Team JNPR.” Nora said still wrapped around his shoulders.

“Yeah and she is falling all over you. You’re like, everything she wants you to be already.” Yang pulled back and they both just looked at the boy who was lying there, not knowing what to do.

“What do you mean?” he just stared at the ceiling. “What do you-” Yang cut him off.

“Listen Jaune. You’ve gotta just see it. She’s crazy about you, absolutely loses herself when you smile or do something little like hold the door for her.” Yang gave him a very serious glare. Jaune shook his head.

“What do you mean, ‘stud muffin’? He turned on Nora.

“Huh? I mean you’re cute Jaune.” she smirked at him like it was a well known fact, “You’ve got the wavy blonde hair, crazy blue eyes, that square jaw, and” she reached down and squeezed his shoulder, “You’re getting pretty frikin’ buff too.” Jaune’s jaw hit his chest in astonishment.

“I’m not cute. If I’m so cute then why did Weiss shoot me down?” Jaune looked over to Yang, Weiss’s teammate.

“Seriously Jaune?” she shook her head and chuckled, “You don’t want any part of that explanation.”

“Yeah, you don’t wanna hear what she said about how sad the guitar thing was, or how embarrassed she was at the whole initiation thing. Plus, Snow Princess? Snow Flake? We all know she’s the Ice Queen.” Nora threw her hands over her mouth when Yang shot her a dirty look.

“Look, Pyrrha was really, really shy about this whole thing too. We had to get her to even admit that she liked you in the first place okay?” Yang stood completely from the bed, “Now you’ve gotta hold up your end. If you like this girl, you gotta show her you do or she’s gonna get all kinds of self conscious and freak out about it.” The water in the bathroom stopped and Nora gasped. She scrambled right over the top of Jaune and flung herself back on her bed. Yang gave Jaune one last look and walked over to the bed, laying down next to Nora and dropping her arm over shoulders. Nora made a point of putting her head back on Yang’s chest and sprawling her legs out, trying desperately to look natural, or what passed as natural for Nora.

A few moments passed and the door to the bathroom swung open. A generous amount of steam billowed out and Pyrrha emerged. She was wearing an oversized red t-shirt and long fluffy, grey sweat pants. Her hair was loose and she was toweling it off on top of her head.

“The shower’s all yours Jaune.” she said, eyes still covered by the fabric of the towel. Yang forcefully pried her eyes away from the literally steaming hot, goddess of a girl in front of her and looked over at Jaune. He was obviously just as affected as she was, he had sat up as soon as she opened the door but his hands were limp at his sides and his jaw slightly slack. He knew he had to blink eventually right? Pyrrha whipped her head back to get all the hair behind her again and chuckled merrily. “Did he fall asleep?” She asked as she pulled the towel back over her hair and saw Jaune sitting there staring at her. She immediately blushed and looked away at the wall. Jaune caught himself and shook his head to try and clear his mind slightly.

Jaune jumped up off the bed and walked directly over to her.

“I’m sorry Pyrrha. I shouldn’t stare like that.” Jaune said as he walked towards her. She went to reply but was silenced as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, “You’re just so beautiful,” He pulled away and found her face, still heavily blushed but now willing to make eye contact. He leaned in suddenly and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

“Jaune, I…” Pyrrha was at a loss.

“I’m gonna take my shower now.” He gave her another squeeze and then slid past her into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Pyrrha looked to the closed bathroom door and then turned slowly to Yang and Nora who were still lying on the bed. Nora was doing her best to appear as if she hadn’t noticed a thing and was lying with her head in the crook of Yang’s shoulder with her eyes squeezed shut. Yang kicked her arm up slightly and Nora leaned up.

“Oh, I guess I dozed off-” Nora stopped when Yang jerked her head in Pyrrha’s direction. She was still standing there looking at them in utter disbelief. Her cheeks, neck and even the upper part of her torso were beet red. “Oh.” Pyrrha let a hand drift up to the spot where Jaune’s lips had brushed her cheek.

“Did you two…?” She trailed off, still unable to form complete sentences.

“No Pyrrha, we didn’t,” Yang shook her head desperately back and forth. They had talked to him, but nothing to warrant that.

“What happened? What did he do?” Nora sat up in excitement and curiosity.

“He said… and then he just…” Pyrrha let her gaze drift slowly back to the bathroom door.

“Oh my Oum. Did he kiss her?” Nora swung her eyes back to Yang. Yang just nodded her head up and down slowly. Pyrrha turned back to them, a huge smile on her face and tears lightly building. She closed her eyes against them and reached up with both her hands to wipe away that bits that leaked out onto her cheeks. She ran forward and collapsed on Nora’s bed throwing her arms around both of them, laughing and crying happily at the same time.

“Thank you so much.” she squeezed hard, “Thank you for helping me and being my friends and thank you for everything.” Nora and Yang both hugged her back and smiled.

“We didn’t do that much Pyrrha.” Yang patted her back.

“Yeah, I mean he fell for you all on his own.” Nora ran a hand through Pyrrha’s still wet hair. Pyrrha stayed burrowed in between them. She just laid there holding them close and calming her erratic breathing. After a long moment of Yang and Nora doing their best to comfort her she sat up, pulling one of their hand’s each into hers and clutching them tightly on her lap.

“No, truly. I don’t know if we ever would have gotten where we are now without you two. You’re the greatest friends I could ever have.” Her eyes were shining from the tears she had shed, but she was still smiling wider than Yang had ever seen her do. Her wet hair was matted around her shoulders and her cheeks were red and slightly puffy from the exertion of crying and laughing all at the same time.

“I’m just glad you’re happy Pyrrha.” Nora smiled and squeezed Pyrrha’s hand back, “We’re so happy together, “ she glanced over at Yang and then back to Pyrrha, “We want you to be too.”

“Yeah,” Yang laughed, “And I meant what I said. You two ever need some alone time in here you just let us know. We’ll take Ren out and do something or just get him to come study in the library or train or something.” The redness from crying was immediately replaced with a flush of heat as Yang spoke and Pyrrha squeezed their hands desperately. 

“I, well, I’m not sure,” Pyrrha steeled herself and looked at Yang, “I don’t know that we’ll need it any time soon. But, thank you, for the offer all the same.” Pyrrha looked down again and sort of mumbled, “If you ever need the same I suppose I could do something to help with that as well.”  Yang smiled and Nora blushed this time.

“No Pyrrha, we wouldn’t want to put you out like that-” Nora stopped as Pyrrha raised a hand, still not looking up from her lap.

“You’ve been very helpful to me and we all need to share the room. Really I don’t mind.” Pyrrha stood without waiting for a response, “Now really I have to find something to do before Jaune gets out of the shower. I don’t want to see-”

The sound of the bathroom door opening involuntarily drew Pyrrha’s attention and she turned. Jaune emerged wearing only a towel tied around his waist and rubbing at his head with a smaller hand towel. There was still some water dripping down his chest and sliding in between the lines of his hard abs, getting caught up slightly in the light fuzz of blonde hair near his waist line and dribbling under the towel into the unknown. His right arm was reaching up behind his head to dry his hair and the muscles in his arm rippled as he pushed the smaller towel across his scalp. He looked gently around the room before letting his eyes fall on the flabbergasted trio of girls huddled together on Nora’s bed.

“Has anyone seen my onesie?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Woo hoo, sexual tension all around at all kinds of different levels. I've seen a lot of Fan Art of Jaune after a lot of his training with Pyrrha being a lean, built, muscled up piece of Huntsman and I feel like that would be a huge deal for Pyrrha. Not at all why she's there, but if she can have Jaune with all his quirks and his unassuming personality and then he's a total stud too then it can't hurt right? But, Jaune is obviously completely oblivious of his looks.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed checking in with Arkos and getting some Collateral Damage info in-between the lines. Any comments or suggestions just let me know. Also, please go check out "Friends and Loved Ones". I posted the first chapter today to celebrate my birthday and I'm really waiting to see what people think of it. Can't wait to hear from you all, thanks so much for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	22. Sister Knows Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora got something all sticky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

“Okay so what did you say you did to this?” Ruby looked up from  _ Magnhild _ , which was carefully laid out in several pieces all over her desk, over to the rather embarrassed wielder standing beside her.

“Well, I was trying to eat this crepe on my way to practice with my team and it was delicious and full of diced up strawberries and chocolate syrup and all this stuff and so I was running to practice because I was late because I went to get the crepe.” She stopped and gave Ruby a concerned glance, “Do you know what a crepe is?It’s like this really thin rolled up pancake that you fill with all kinds of stuff to make it even more delicious-” Ruby held a hand out to stop her.

“Nora we have to stay on topic, this could be bad.” she glanced back down at the weapon, the insides were all gunked up with what she now knew must be crepe and crepe filling. It had dripped all over the actuators inside and bits of dough were stuck in between gears and wedged into vital hinges. “I think we might have to take the whole thing apart and clean it by hand.” Nora collapsed backwards against the frame of Weiss’s bed.

“Aww are you serious? That’s gonna take forever to do. I hate having to clean it.” she looked up to Ruby, a bright idea shining behind her eyes, “What if we just get like a hose and spray it all over the inside to force the stuff out?” Ruby shook her head.

“No, you can’t just spray water in there. It’ll mess with all the lubricants and might even rust some of the gears. They should have pretty good protective coatings on them but the layers can crack and chip away if you don’t redo them all the time,” she gave Nora a glance that meant she knew she didn’t do that and then continued, “Honestly it won’t be that bad to do it all by hand. I take  _ Crescent Rose _ apart completely every weekend and oil the whole thing, I check every piece and reapply lubricants, calibrate the actuators and make sure the blade’s slot if clean and open. It’s really important to make sure that you’re weapon is always in top condition Nora, you trust it with your life every time you fight.” The light in Nora’s eyes died and she slumped back against the bed again. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you with it.”

“Really?” Nora jumped over to Ruby’s desk and fell to her knees, grasping at Ruby’s cloak with both hands. Ruby laughed and swiveled in her chair to face the redhead.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen inside your  _ Magnhild _ and I’m always up to clean a weapon out and learn how it works.” Ruby gave her a bright smile and Nora released her cloak with a grin. “Now come on let’s get to work.”

“See Nora, I told you she’d be up to help you out.” Yang tossed from her spot on her bunk where she had been watching her girlfriend and sister interact.

“Yeah, just because you’re no help,” Nora turned and stuck her tongue out at Yang.

“Oh come on. Part of the reason I made my gauntlets the way they are is so maintenance would be really easy. They’re simple and straightforward like me.” Yang grinned wide.

“Pffft, she’s said she’s simple.” Ruby snickered and Nora tried to suppress a giggle.

“Hey I heard that.” Yang’s grin dropped and was replaced with a playful scorn.

“Come on Yang, get down here and help your girlfriend make sure she doesn’t die the next time you two try to take on a whole nest of Grimm on your own.” Ruby swung her chair back around to the mighty hammer and Yang hopped down from her bed.

“Excuse me, try? We handled those Grimm no problem. Had a lot of fun too.” Yang came up behind Nora and wrapped her hands around her waist. Nora turned into Yang and gave her a playful kiss on the nose and Ruby started humming very loudly.

“Dum dum da dum, I can’t hear you,” Ruby kicked her feet back and forth under the desk and focused intently on pulling a sticky gear out of the hammer’s inner workings. “Just trying to fix Nora’s hammer, no big deal.” Nora laughed and slid herself out of Yang’s grip.

“Sorry Ruby, here let me take the handle. It’s actually probably the most complicated part.” Nora slid a chair over to the desk and grabbed a few tools from Ruby’s collection to start disassembling the handle. Yang stepped to Ruby’s other side to eliminate her temptation to continue fondling Nora and leaned on the desk next to Ruby’s.

“So Rubes, how’s it goin’?” Yang asked in such a long sarcastic manner that Ruby stopped working and looked at her.

“What do you mean?” Ruby raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“I mean I wanna know how my lil’ sis’ is doin’. Can’t I ask a simple question?” Yang bemoaned and Ruby turned back to her work.

“Trying to focus right now Yang. Kinda busy.” Ruby stuck her tongue out between her lips and squinted hard at a small screw, trying to fit her tool into the proper slots.

“Oh come on Ruby, I just wanna know what you’ve been up to lately.” Yang kicked off the desk and landed her elbows in front of Ruby, resting her chin in her hands.

“I’ve been studying and training and working really really hard. I mean the Vytal Festival is coming up and that’s a big deal plus I’m the team leader so I have to try my hardest at everything and I wanna be a really good teammate and really good partner for Weiss because she would be mad if she thought I was slacking off at all and I don’t want her mad at me because then we won’t-” Ruby cut herself short and dropped her screwdrived inside the hammer, throwing her hands over her mouth, she then immediately plunged her hands back into the hammer, trying to retrieve the dropped tool that had wiggled itself down into the workings of the weapon. “Oh dust, see what you made me do Yang.” Nora bobbed her head along to some unheard tune and continued disassembling  _ Magnhild’s  _ handle.

“What was that Ruby?” Yang reached over and grabbed a long, thin set of pliers to help Ruby get the screwdriver out and handed them to her, “What about Weiss?”

“Thanks,” Ruby accepted the tool, “and nothing at all. I just want to be a good partner for her. I promised her that I would try my best and I need to keep my promise.” Ruby focused intently on wiggling the pliers down to grab at the other tool.

“Uh huh, you know, you never were a great liar Rubes.” Yang laughed and leaned back against the wall, propping herself up against the corner of the desk.

“I’m not lying Yang.” Ruby pulled the tweezers out and threw her hands down in a frustrated huff.

“Yeah, but you’re not telling the whole truth either.” Yang cocked an eyebrow at Ruby and gently took the tweezers from her, sliding the hammer head across the desk and starting to try and get the screwdriver out. Ruby sighed and dropped her head to stare at her lap.

“Yeah, but, I don’t know if I can tell you the whole truth right now Yang.” Ruby didn’t lift her eyes and Yang tried desperately to get the screwdriver out but wasn’t having much success. “I mean, it’s just weird because there’s like a lot going on and I don’t know how you’ll react or anything and I’m not even sure about the whole deal myself and I’m just really confused. Yang could hear Ruby’s voice starting to weaken and lifted her head to speak.

“Hey Ruby it’s okay you know. To be confused I mean. I was confused for a long time and you should have seen Yang, she was a mess.” Nora chimed and cut Yang off before she could even begin. Yang looked down and saw Nora’s hand resting on Ruby’s wrist. Ruby looked up to Nora, worry spread out on her face. Yang went back to trying to get the tool out of  _ Magnhild’s  _ head, she trusted Nora to handle this for a moment.

“But I mean,” Ruby trailed off, “What if it all goes wrong? We’re supposed to be partners right and I’m having all these feelings and I don’t even know what to do with them. It’s like...it’s like when I’m around her my chest is gonna explode and I mess up all the time and I feel like I don’t have enough time to think about what I’m doing and then I do things and she has to help me fix them and that just makes me more embarrassed.” Nora lifted Ruby’s hand and grasped it in between both of hers. 

“Ruby, do you like Weiss?” the directness of Nora’s question caught Ruby off guard and Yang set the tweezers aside, this was now far more important. Ruby sat there for a moment stunned into silence, she looked at Nora and turned to Yang. Yang tried her best to keep her face even, she didn’t want Ruby’s answer to be based on what she thought Yang might think of her.

“I... I think I do.” Ruby’s eyes fell back to her lap, “I don’t know though, maybe. I’ve never even had a crush on a boy before, how do I know if I like girls?” Yang reached forward and rubbed her back.

“It’s not necessarily like a one or the other kind of thing Ruby and maybe you’ve never had a crush on a boy or liked a boy yet because you just don’t like boys. There were some pretty cute ones at Signal and you never even really noticed.” Yang stood up and moved to Ruby’s side, putting her hands around her shoulders.

“And if you do like Weiss then you should go for it. You just follow what your heart is telling you and it will probably work out.” Nora gave her a reassuring smile and kept her hand in hers.

“What if she doesn’t like me like that though? I don’t think she’s gay.” Ruby pulled her hand away and stood, stepping away from the desks. Yang and Nora glanced at each other and shared a voiceless thought. It was completely possible that Weiss wasn’t gay at all. She had asked Neptune to go to the dance with her after all and had been really bummed when he didn’t and really excited again when he showed up.

“The only way you’re gonna know is if you bring it up,” Yang offered.

“Yeah and you do spend a ton of time together so maybe she does like you and she’s just as worried as you are.” Nora stood as well, turning to face Ruby whose back was turned.

“But we do all of that stuff because we’re partners and I know you guys make a lot of jokes but we really do train and study all those times. I keep asking her to train and saying yes and going with her because yeah I should be working hard and stuff but just because I wanna spend more time with her too. I think she’s just there because we’re partners and we’re supposed to work together.” Ruby spun around to face them and Yang could see tears just bubbling up in her eyes, “What if that’s all it is and then I tell her I like her and it all comes out and freaks her out and then she never wants to talk to me again and I’ll lose even the parts of her I do have now.” Yang rushed forward and caught Ruby up in a hug, wrapping her arms under her sister’s arms and pulling her up towards her. Ruby’s head fell on Yang’s shoulder and she buried her face in Yang’s long blonde hair.

“It’s okay Ruby. That’s not gonna happen. Even if she said no and she doesn’t like you that way, there’s no way you’re gonna lose her. Weiss is your partner, you guys are really really close and even she’s a better person than that.” Yang rubbed Ruby’s back and felt the smaller girl’s leg snake around her waist. Yang hefted her weight up higher and pulled Ruby against her. Nora walked over gently and put a comforting hand on Ruby’s back, rubbing small circles between her shoulder blades.

“You know we can help you with this stuff right Ruby?” Nora asked gently in a soft voice that Yang was very unaccustomed to hearing, “I mean Yang’s your big sister and I’m your friend right? So we’re here for you you.” Yang turned a little so she could see Nora over Ruby’s red tipped hair and gave her a warm smile. She was so happy that Nora was such a caring and supportive girl. She had been there for Yang when she was so unsure about her feelings and now she was helping Ruby out to. She really was a keeper. Ruby pulled her head away from Yang’s shoulder slightly and rubbed at her nose.

“Really? You would help me?” she sniffled a little from the tears that had almost taken hold.

“Of course Rubes.” Yang set her down and smiled.

“What do you want us to do? We could get Weiss and you in here together and block the door.” Nora laughed, trying to ease the tension in the room. Ruby laughed a little too so evidently it had worked, at least a little.

“No,” another nervous little giggle, “I think that would make things worse. Could you maybe just talk to her for me?” Yang laughed, Ruby wanted them to see if Weiss was gay and if she liked Ruby back. They could try, but the platinum haired heiress was not really the forthcoming type, especially on personal matters.

“Of course we can,” Nora gave Ruby a confident smile and Ruby seemed to brighten further.

“Yeah, we’ll see if we can melt the Ice Queen’s heart a little for ya’,” Yang gave Ruby a playful slug on the shoulder and Ruby chuckled again.

“She’s actually really nice you know?” Ruby looked at Yang pleadingly, “She just kinda gives off the wrong impression.”

“Kinda like your sister.” Nora shot Yang a teasing wink, “She’s like this big hulking monster until you get to know the little fuzzy cuddly thing hiding inside.” Ruby laughed and Nora rushed over to Yang, grabbing her around the waist before she could protest.

“Hey, I’m a very loveable person.” Yang crossed her arms in protest despite the desire to scoop Nora up bridal style and kiss her, she loved when Nora was playful like this and she had just cheered her sister up. Nora was scoring all kinds of points and making Yang very sure about how she felt.

“Maybe you’ll convince me if you help clean my hammer,” Nora released Yang and walked backwards towards the desks and waggled her tongue at Yang. Ruby laughed and followed the redhead over to where they had been working. Yang just shook her head and followed behind, how was she supposed to deal with both of them working together like that? She made her way to the desk as well and scooped up  _ Magnhild’s  _ head and heard the screwdriver rattle inside. She flipped the hammer head over so the opening was facing the ground and shook it vigorously. Little bits of crepe dough fell out and the screwdriver rattled and rattled until it finally plopped out onto the floor.

“There see, I’m super helpful.” Yang tossed the hammer head back towards the desk and it went straight through to the ground, splintering the wood and sending Ruby’s tools flying.

“Aww Yang, that’s like the third desk this year. They said we’re gonna have to start paying for them.” Ruby moaned and looked around at her tools scattered all over the room now and Nora rolled in laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I admit that summary was purposely misleading. I want you all to feel the frustration just as much as Yang and Nora.
> 
> Well we finally got a little bit of the WhiteRose confirmation we've been looking for. Ruby likes Weiss, but they still need to find out if it goes both ways. A little bit of a shorter chapter here but they will be longer on the weekend to make up for it, promise. There's lots left to do, lots left to say, just a very particular pace to say it at.
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you're all still enjoying it.
> 
> -Zach


	23. All the Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's their two month anniversary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The bike thrummed along steadily beneath Yang as she eased it down the winding road from Beacon towards the gleaming expanse of Vale spread out before them. The Academy was a place of nearly constant motion, airships coming and going, students training, laughing, playing and loving each other everywhere, professors prowling about and making sure everyone stayed focused and behaved, and the sounds of combat ringing out from around the campus’s many sparring areas. Vale was a thriving city, flush with commuters going to and from work, a pulsing nightlife, the traffics of industry moving from the port through the city and the general hustle and bustle that comes with housing such a large population. 

Yang enjoyed these drives in between the two. Feeling the cool evening air rush against her and pull at her long hair, Nora’s strong arms around her middle, so warm she could feel the heat through her light jacket, and the peaceful quiet filled only by the noise of her beloved motorcycle pulling them ever forward. The drive took maybe fifteen minutes to make, twenty if she slowed to the posted speed limits but she relished every moment of it. Even if they couldn’t talk over the rushing wind, this was still a time for her and Nora to be alone together, just the two of them. Yang looked out over the lightly forested slopes of the hill and was struck suddenly by the sheer beauty of the tree tops crested by the gentle moonlight. It was incredible to think that such a natural, serene landscape could exist between their metropolitan landscape and a school specifically designed to train Huntresses and Huntsmen.

They pulled the rest of the way down into the city and up alongside the curb next to the restaurant. Yang steadied the bike and felt Nora’s hand slide off around her, the hands stopped at her waist and Nora squeezed Yang’s hip just a little and then pushed herself off of the bike. Yang pulled her helmet off and flung her golden tresses out behind her and Nora giggled. Yang turned her head at the noise and gave her girlfriend a quick once over, she was wearing skin tight white pants that hugged her firm thighs and gripped at all her wonderful edges. Nora slid off the leather jacket she wore on the bike and Yang watched on as she pulled her arms out, pushing her shoulders forward to disengage herself from the heavy material. The jacket came away, revealing the pink blouse underneath that Yang loved so much, with the little ruffles around the neck line. Yang was amazed at the regularity of Nora’s wardrobe. She had all sorts of different clothes but they all fell into that same color scheme, which Nora said just made picking outfits easier because everything matched.

“You know we could ride the airship if you didn’t wanna mess your hair up.” she handed her the jacket and bright pink helmet with a smirk that told Yang she knew she had been watching. She grabbed the edge of the helmet and smiled, she saw it as a sign of how far their relationship had come, they were sort of committed now, intertwined into each other’s lives as they were. Nora had been wearing Ruby’s red helmet and Yang decided that just wouldn’t do, she deserved her own, and she had bought her one as a surprise for their one month anniversary.

“Does my hair look bad?” Yang gave her a playful smirk and dismounted the bike, turning to stow both helmets and jackets under the seat. A pair of hands quickly found her hips again and Nora pressed her pelvis up against Yang’s rear.

“Oh no, I like it messy.” the tease came as a sultry whisper right in Yang’s ear and there was a little nip at her earlobe. Yang grinned like a fool and pushed back against Nora’s front with her waist, rubbing into the smaller girl. She leaned up off the bike and pulled Nora’s hands forward around her middle, intertwining their fingers together.

“Oh that’s good,” Yang replied in an equally passionate tone, and then spun around in Nora’s arms to face her, eyes half lidded. “Because it’s harder to brush out than wrestling a Borbatusk.” Her seductive visage broke out in a peel of laughter and Nora fell away from her, doubled over in humor. It took Nora a moment to recover and Yang smiled, easing the last of her own chuckles away, Nora was so adorable when she laughed like that.

“Oh Yang,” Nora stood up and wiped at her face, “Oh, I love you so much.” she stepped forward and gave Yang a light kiss on the cheek.

“I love you too Nora,” Yang pulled her closer and placed her kiss on the girl’s lips. Nora readily swung her arms around Yang’s neck and held them together for a moment, smiling more than kissing. They pulled apart just enough to rest their foreheads on each other and gazed into the other’s eyes.

“So are we gonna go eat now?” Nora asked with an innocence to her voice that betrayed the look in her eyes. Yang lifted a single hand from her waist and gently tucked a strand of hair behind Nora’s ear.

“That is the whole reason we came down here isn’t it?” She let her finger fall from Nora’s ear to her nose and gave her a light bop. “That is unless you wanna just head back to the dorms?” Yang teased and Nora pulled back slightly, keeping her arms firmly around Yang’s neck and shoulders.

“Now, now. We have to have some fancy dates too.” she chided, “It can’t all be pancake houses and Grimm fighting.” Nora slid off to Yang’s side and gripped her hand. Yang smiled contentedly, happy that Nora wanted to make tonight special as well, since it was their two month anniversary. She gave Nora’s hand a light squeeze and lead her into the restaurant. They greeted the host and were shown to their reserved table near the back of the room.

The lighting in the main dining area was dim, cast by small lights embedded in the ceiling and shaded lamps at every table. The other patrons spoke in hushed voices and slow, easy music drifted through the air from hidden speakers. It definitely wasn’t their usual kind of dinner but Nora was right, tonight was special and they needed to treat it that way. Plus, it was nice to dress up every once and awhile. Yang had wanted to wear a dress but seeing as they got everywhere on a motorcycle that seemed a tad impractical, maybe they should take the airship next time. She had instead opted for a pair of form fitting, but not quite tight dress slacks and a button down top which she left open a little at the top to put her gold chained necklace on display. The only ornamentation on the necklace was a tiny version of Yang’s burning heart sigil in silhouette. Yang knew the necklace was a good excuse, but she had really wanted to wear the neck open so Nora could see all of her, it wasn’t immodest or overly revelatory in any way but definitely let Nora know what she had underneath.The waiter sat them both and offered a bottle of the house’s wine. Yang accepted but asked that he also bring them some water.

“I do have to drive again tonight,” Yang responded to Nora’s questioning glance.

“Oh, yeah I guess that’s true.” Nora sighed with a little huff that blew her bangs up in the air, “I won’t drink that much then, it wouldn’t be fair.” Yang smiled at her consideration and the man returned with their drinks. He set down their waters and poured them each a glass of the dark red wine and departed with a polite nod of his head so they could choose their meal. They casually perused the menu for a moment before Yang spoke.

“Are you excited for the Vytal Festival?” she looked up from the menu and found Nora following a word with her finger, silently sounding it out.

“Huh?” her gaze jerked up from the menu suddenly, “Oh yeah, it’s gonna be great.” Yang chuckled quietly at what she had caught, “What?” Nora whined.

“Oh nothing. It’s just that the whole fancy dinner thing was your idea you know. You’re not allowed to blame me if you can’t find something you like.” Yang tossed the comment across the table playfully. She knew the point of tonight was to be with each other and enjoy a quiet evening away from their teams and the food was just a secondary part, but, food was never really secondary with them.

“I can’t even find something I can say. How am I even supposed to know what this is?” Nora held up the menu and pointed to an item about halfway down ‘ _ Moules à la crème Mistral _ ’ “I can’t even pronounce it. What is it made of?” Yang squinted at the word and tried to make it out then looked back down to her own menu.

“Okay, am I allowed to blame you if we can’t find anything?” Yang flipped the page and continued scanning.

“No, no you are not. You’re supposed to be the fancy, refined one. I mean you do live with a Schnee. Hasn’t she taught you some of this stuff?” Nora folded her menu and closed it on the table and lifted a suspicious eyebrow.

“You know this is a Mistralian restaurant right? Weiss is from Atlas.” Nora’s face fell slightly as Yang made her point, “You know who is from Mistral?” Nora’s face lit up in shock.

“Oh no, it is my fault.” she moaned, “I’ll find something that’s delicious watch. I promise.” Nora picked her menu back up and ran her finger down the side, scanning through each name quickly. Yang laughed again, loud enough to draw the attention of a few other tables and caught herself. She had to remember where they were and control herself a little more than usual. “I won’t even have to text Pyrrha, trust me.”

“It’s no big deal,” Yang said once she had regained her composure, making sure to keep her voice down, “Really it’s fine-”

“Nope, problem solved I got it.” Nora jutted her menu out towards Yang and she stopped her sentence short. One tiny petite finger reached around the side of the menu and point at a single dish, ‘ _ Steak Au Poivre _ ’. Yang lifted her eyes and quirked an eyebrow at Nora yet again.

“And what is that?”

“I have absolutely no idea, but the first word is steak so it’s gotta be good right?” Nora let the menu fall and revealed a confident grin.

“You’re right. There’s no arguing with that logic.” Yang grinned back and folded her menu, “ The Steak Ahh Proevray it is,” they both chuckled. Nora lifted her glass and took a small sip of her wine.

“Oh wow, this wine is delicious.” Nora pulled the glass away and looked at the liquid in wonderment.

“Really? There’s no way it’s that good. It’s just wine” Yang lifted her glass, gave it a small sniff and then took a sip, “Oh my Oum you’re right.” Yang set the glass down reverently and put out a defensive hand. “That’s too good, it’s dangerous.” She raised her eyes from the glass to Nora who was just draining the last drops of her own drink.

“Hmm?” she hummed out through the glass and then set it down, “What do you mean?” Yang shook her head and lifted her own glass in toast. Nora returned the toast with her empty glass as well. Yang took another small sip and then set the glass back down as the waiter returned.

“Good evening ladies. Have you decided what you’ll be having this evening?” he looked politely to both of them 

“Yes we have,” Nora kept her voice nice and even and Yang recognized her Weiss impression “We would both like the Steak Aww Poievreh.” Nora extended her menu towards him as if that settled the matter but the man lowered his head slightly to one side in confusion.

“I’m sorry, which dish was that?” he looked quietly to Yang for possible assistance. Yang picked up her menu and rifled through the pages until she found the dish in question and turned it to show the waiter, “Ahh I see, the Steak Au Poivre. My apologies.” he bowed his head again politely, “I shall take your orders to the Chef right away.” The man retrieved their menus and stepped back towards the kitchen. Nora and Yang both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well that went better than it could have.” Nora gave Yang an uneasy smile.

“I mean, he knows we have no idea what we’re talking about now.” Yang laughed and took another sip of her wine.

“Oh dang it, I was gonna ask for another glass of wine.” Nora looked forlornly at her empty glass, sides stained with the residue of the rich beverage.

“Here,” Yang extended her glass towards her girlfriend, “We can both get another when he comes back.” But, Nora shook her head back and forth.

“Nope, that’s yours. If I drink some then you’ll be saying I drank more than you and we can’t have that.” Nora picked up her water and took a drink to prove her point. Yang retracted her arm and gave Nora a smirk, then tilted it back and finished the rest.

“There, now we’re even.” Yang set the glass down and Nora smiled, “So, what are we gonna do about Weiss and Ruby?” Nora slid her water to the side and folded her hands on the table in front of her, very seriously.

“We have to make Weiss fall in love with her, obviously.” Nora deadpanned.

“I don’t think it’s as simple as that Nora.” Yang chuckled.

“Really? It was for me.”  Nora flashed Yang a smirk before settling back on her very serious face. Yang was shocked for a moment but knew Nora was probably mostly joking, she had been just as nervous as Yang when this all started. “We just have to get Weiss to realize how wonderful Ruby is.”

“But we don’t even know if she likes girls. I mean she went out with Neptune and all, she probably thinks Ruby is great, but just as a friend.” Yang reached for her wine only to remember she had finished it.

“Neptune? Really? He’s not exactly a manly man ya know.” Yang laughed at that, Nora had a point but that didn’t change the fact that he was a boy and Weiss had expressed interest in him and not any girls.

“I don’t know Nora. I don’t wanna make things weird but we told Ruby we would help her. What if we tease Weiss about it and see how mad she gets? That pretty much worked with Ruby.” Yang liked the idea of getting to poke fun at the heiress and having a valid reason beyond her own entertainment.

“But she’s always mad isn’t she?” Nora was no longer able to keep up the serious face and she rubbed at her cheeks, sore from the unfamiliar strain.

“Okay, well what if we make out in front of her and see if she gets all flustered?” Yang also liked having an excuse to make out with Nora.

“She’s so priggish though, she’ll probably just storm out or yell at us.” Nora didn’t say they couldn’t, just that it probably wouldn’t get any answers. Yang would have to remember how comfortable she was with being seen like that.

“Well do you have any ideas?” Yang really still wanted to find a way to help her sister but she was so focused on Nora that all the ideas kept coming out wrong.

“I still say we just lock them in a room together and force them to deal with it.” Nora smiled and Yang went to protest, “No really, Ruby is so shy and Weiss is so reserved that they’ll never ever talk about it if no one makes them. It’s like Pyrrha trying to get Pyrrha to ask her out. They both know how they feel but they can’t do anything about it.” Yang dropped her rebuttal and considered Nora’s point.

“Well they already spend a lot of time together and they haven’t talked about it yet. If we lock them up together Weiss will probably start studying and who knows, Ruby might go insane.” Yang stopped, “Well more insane I guess.” They both laughed.

“So we have to force the issue. Maybe making out in front of them would work?” Yang laughed, now Nora was the one losing focus.

“No, no.” she found Nora’s eyes, “And that’s my little sister. I don’t think I could really do that in front of her.” Nora nodded in understanding and put a finger to her chin in thought.

“Wanna just tell Weiss how Ruby feels? That way she will pretty much have to deal with it.” Nora slid her glass back over and took a long sip of water.

“We can’t just out Ruby like that. I think we should-” Yang stopped as their waiter approached, carrying their dinners. The Steak Au Poivre was a small cut of beef, cooked to a darker brown on the outside but still a deep, rich pink on the inside. The whole piece was marinated with a light brown sauce and garnished with diced green onions and chives. The waiter also placed a long, skinny loaf of bread between them alongside a dish filled with a mixture of olive oil and little bits of seasoning and just a dribbling of vinegar.

“Oh wow, thank you. It looks great.” Nora gave the man an appreciative smile and he nodded in response.

“And can we have another glass of wine each?” Yang indicated their empty glasses with a gentle wave of her hand.

“Of course. My apologies.” the waiter turned on his heel and retreated to the kitchen to retrieve their wine. Nora and Yang smiled at each other, they really weren’t used to this kind of service and it made Yang feel very fancy.

“Do you think this is why Weiss is soo… Weiss-like?” Yang whispered to Nora, as if the heiress may have been listening in on their conversation.

“Like, this is what she’s used to all the time. Maybe.” Nora leaned over the table as well, “I mean you said she had butlers with her on her first day right?”

“Yeah, they were carrying all her stuff. That’s how she and Ruby met actually. Ruby knocked a bunch of dust containers over and it all exploded.” Yang laughed at the memory. “She called Ruby ‘Crater Face’ for weeks after that.” They both laughed merrily, trying their best to restrain it to a volume the other guests would find tolerable and not doing a fantastic job of it. The waiter returned and announced himself with a polite cough and held the bottle of wine up to explain his presence. They both smiled and moved their glasses to where he could pour for them. “Thank you.”

“Thanks,” Nora smiled as the deep red liquid filled her glass.

“Please, enjoy the meal,” the waiter tipped the bottle back away from them and left with a flourish of his arm. Yang lifted her glass to Nora and smiled.

“We can figure out Ruby and Weiss later. Let’s focus on us tonight.”

“Yeah, to us.” Nora smiled and clinked her glass gently against Yang’s, “I love you Yang.”

“I love you Nora.” They both tipped their glasses and took a sip and then settled into their meal, eating at a much slower pace than usual out of respect for the establishment’s standards and atmosphere. They both cut a small piece of the steak off and lifted it gingerly to their lips.

“We can’t get used to this.”

“Nope no way.”

“I mean, we just can’t afford it.”

“I didn’t even know food could taste like this.”

They both rattled off a series of explanations of just how delicious the food was, better than bacon was mentioned, like riding a tank into battle as well and even so delicious they could die but Yang decided this must really be the reason Weiss thought she was better than everyone else. If she had been eating this kind of food on a daily basis and then moved down to Beacon’s cafeteria fare, no wonder she assumed that her way of life was better. This food was simply amazing.

“Okay, that was absolutely delicious.” Nora said as she ran a piece of the bread around her plate, scraping up the last of the sauce and savoring every drop.

“Oh yeah, definitely the best steak I’ve ever had.” Yang hummed with pleasure as she mulled over the last piece, trying to hold the flavor as long as she could, “Thank you Nora, this was a great idea.” Yang lifted her eyes to the girl who was still pressing her bread into the plate. Nora popped the bread into her mouth and mumbled agreement through her full mouth.

“Mmm hmmm,” she swallowed, “Thanks for coming with me. Happy two month anniversary.” Yang felt her face melt into a foolishly huge smile. It really had been two months already since they knocked those guys out, two months since Ren warned her not to break Nora’s heart and two months since they talked outside the library. Every memory she had with her over that time was wonderful, movies and pancakes and gifts and the carnival. The time they spent together and the time they spent with the rest of their friends seemed to glow in her mind as some of the happiest times she had had for a long time, maybe even since Summer passed.

“Nora,” Yang tried to keep her voice steady as her emotions bubbled up, “ You’ve really been the best girlfriend ever. You’ve been so patient with me, and you’re amazing with my sister, you’re funny and adorable and you put up with me. You’re just, just incredible.” Yang pushed her plate away with her arm and reached across the table. Nora met her halfway and grasped her hand.

“Aww Yang c’mon,” Nora wiped at her eye with her free hand, “Not while we’re still out in public.” she wiped at her other eye and took a breath to steady herself. “You are the most exciting, most fun, most beautiful girl I’ve ever met. Plus you have all this noise on the outside but you’re so caring and considerate inside. You always open the door for me and walk between me and the street, you’re so nice to Ren even though he’s well… Ren. I can’t believe how lucky I am everytime I wake up and realize I get to spend another day with you.” Nora let her hand fall away from her quickly reddening eyes and grabbed Yang’s hand, clutching it between both of hers.

Yang laughed and felt several tears slip onto her cheeks.

“We’re hopeless,” she wiped away the tears and dropped her other hand over Nora’s, “We can’t go anywhere together can we?” Nora shook her head and several more tears fell out on her soft cheeks and she laughed. Nora gave Yang’s hands a squeeze and pulled back so Yang would release her hands just as their waiter returned carrying the check. Yang and Nora both pulled away and wiped at their eyes in embarrassment. How had Yang let her feelings spring forward so suddenly like that?

“Ladies, I sincerely hope you have enjoyed your evening. Please visit us again in the future.” he placed the check down and bowed deeper than earlier before departing. Nora’s hand shot forward before Yang could react and grabbed the bill.

“This is mine.” Nora gave Yang a wry grin, glanced quickly at the tab and pulled a card out of her small pink clutch, emblazoned with her hammer insignia in a circle of white.

“I guess that’s fair,” Yang smiled, “I did pay for the hotel room after all.” Yang lifted her glass of water and drained the last of it as nonchalantly as she could, trying to play off what she had just said.

“You what?” Nora nearly dropped the bill and her card, “What hotel room?” Yang lowered the glass and looked sheepishly at her understandably shocked girlfriend.

“Didn’t I tell you? I got us a hotel room here in downtown just for tonight.” Yang reached over and took the bill and card from Nora, setting it upright on the table so their waiter would know to come grab it.

“Yang Xiao Long, you did not tell me that.” Nora still had not moved, “I don’t have anything, I’m so not prepared for this. Oh Yang it’s so sweet but you should have told me so I could-” Yang grabbed Nora’s hands and silenced her.

“I just want to be with you Nora.” Yang rubbed her thumbs gently across the back of Nora’s hands, “I didn’t want you to worry about anything or be anxious about it. I’m freaking out enough for both of us, trust me.” Nora’s tension broke and she laughed just a little.

“Okay, well we have to leave like now then don’t we? I mean, what are we still doing here?” Nora released Yang’s hand and took the bill back. She slid her card out and replaced it with several high denomination bills, “That’s fine. He can keep all of that.” Nora stood and grabbed Yang’s hand again, pulling her out towards the door. Yang laughed and skipped to keep up with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, this chapter is coming out just one day after the actual one month anniversary of "One Small Step" being published. That's the chapter where Yang and Nora finally started going out so I thought it would be appropriate to have their anniversary dinner and all happen for today's chapter. Thanks so so much for reading and please let me know what you think below so I can keep a pulse on the opinion of the piece and if you like the direction I'm going and all that. I've only been getting fairly stellar, positive reviews so far so I'm just gonna keep on going like I have been.
> 
> You're all absolutely fantastic and please look out for tomorrow's chapter of "Clubbin' " as well as both of this weekend's updates to "Friends and Loved Ones". Thanks so very much for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	24. The Morning After (again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after their two month anniversary date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.  
> Also, the small section between the lines below may approach the line between T and M. It grows quite suggestive and descriptive. Nothing that I feel truly steps over the line but please be wary. The chapter quickly returns to the norm so please enjoy.

Easy golden sunlight streamed in through the slightly open curtains and fell lightly across Yang's face. The bright morning rays woke her just enough to consciously roll over to avoid them. Yang closed her eyes tight against the sun, picked up her head and moved her hair to the other side so she could lay the opposite direction without being buried in her own massive locks. She settled her head into the soft pillow and sighed happily, it was Sunday and she could sleep in just a little. Just as she felt herself drifting back off to sleep she felt a hand slide up along her hip and caress her side with strong supple fingers. It was then that Yang realized with sudden clarity where she was and that she was completely naked under the covers. She let her eyes drift back open to find the quietly sleeping redhead next to her.

A happy warmth filled Yang's heart as she remembered the previous evening, their dinner together, the joy on Nora's face when she told her about the hotel room, the quick motorcycle ride over and the rush to their room. Yang had checked them in via her scroll before they left for dinner and used a code they were sent to get in the room. She knew how they would be when they got there and didn't want to have to bother with talking to a concierge. Yang carefully slid her hand out from under the blankets, being sure not to disturb Nora and rested her hand lovingly against her cheek, stroking just above her cheek bone with her thumb. Nora cooed softly and wiggled closer to Yang. Her eyes opened a little and Yang saw that same happy warmth reflected in the face of her lover.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Yang moved her hand around to the back of Nora's head and pulled her into a light kiss. They pulled away after a short moment and Nora pressed her still naked body against Yang's and buried her head into her shoulder happily. Their legs intertwined beneath them, Nora's slipping between Yang's and wrapped around the bottom one so Nora was as close to her as she could possibly be. Nora was warm, even to Yang and she loved it. Everyone always felt so cold but Nora was like a little radiator as she hummed happily in their bed.

"Good morning gorgeous," Nora slid her arms around Yang and pulled her closer. Yang let her arm fall across Nora's back and rested her cheek on the top of Nora's head. "Can we just stay here?"

"Yeah," Yang closed her eyes and let Nora's warmth envelope her, "Yeah we totally can." Yang ran her finger in neat little lines down Nora's back, tracing out the vertebrae in her back, running her fingers along the rippling shoulder muscles and drawing absent minded patterns on the smooth expanse of skin. She kept tracing her shapes and felt herself drifting slowly back to sleep, Nora's breathing slowed and they both slipped away again.

* * *

 

Yang woke again and felt the absence of her girlfriend. She opened her eyes to see an empty pillow and the covers pulled back. The bed was cold again, the opening allowing air to flow in and steal the warmth they had spent all night building up under the blankets. Yang pushed herself to a sitting position against the headboard and quickly scanned the room for Nora. Her clothes were still in a crazy mess leading from the door to the bed, as were Yang's, so she hadn't gone anywhere. The sound of the toilet flushing and the faucet starting up rang out from the open bathroom door and she released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. A moment passed and the sink stopped as Nora came back into the little room.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I just really really had to pee." Nora giggled and her breasts jiggled just slightly up and down. Yang sat there, nearly slack jawed by Nora's beauty. Last night they had attacked each other so hungrily, they hadn't even turned the lights on as they came into the room. Memories of Nora's silhouette above her, illuminated only by the moonlight falling through the panoramic window flashed through Yang's mind and she blushed in happiness.

Nora struck a pose and Yang realized she was still quite blatantly staring at her. She was just perfect there in front of her. Her tone legs leading up to a thin set of hips just beneath a muscled core. Her arms were incredibly muscled, her shoulders pumped slightly even after having slept all night. And those wonderful little breasts of hers. Yang had figured bigger always meant better in that department but that was definitely not the case with Nora. They were just, wonderful, glorious, fantastic, the list of adjectives went on and on. Nora leaned over the edge of the bed, resting her hands on the bannister at the foot of the mattress. Her flaming red hair fell gently around her face and a playful smirk played across her lips.

"Do you see something you like?" Nora moved one hand forward and began to crawl towards Yang on all fours, bringing her knees onto the bed as she made her way towards the blonde.

"Absolutely all of it." Yang caught her just under the arms as she approached and pulled her quickly forward on top of her, kissing her hard as they fell together.

* * *

 

Yang slid her dress slacks from the night before back on and buttoned them slowly, in no hurry to leave the room and return to their normal lives. She looked to the other side of the bed where Nora was dropping her blouse over her shoulders. She wiggled her head just a little as it fell over her to make sure it didn't get stuck on her. Her face popped out of the fabric and she made a happy little noise as she found Yang staring at her again.

"You better hurry and put your shirt on too or we're gonna have to go through this whole process over again." Nora chided at the still shirtless Yang. She had her bra on but that obviously wasn't enough concealment to keep Nora under control. She turned away to save Nora from the stimulation and slid her shirt on over her arms, buttoning it back up like the previous night and then reattached her necklace. Yang heard Nora sit on the bed and walked over to the door to grab her shoes, the very first thing that had come off. She turned around and saw Nora already fitting her shoes back to her feet.

"So what do you want for breakfast?" Yang sat in the lone chair in the corner and slipped her socks and shoes back on.

"Weelll," Nora popped her second shoe into place and laid back on the bed, "I think I definitely need some coffee. I'm pretty tired after that early morning workout." She shot Yang a coy smirk and Yang smiled back.

"Alright, sounds good to me." Yang stood and extended a hand out to help the redhead up. Nora rolled backwards until she was on Yang's side of the bed and accepted her hand. They left the room and headed down to the lobby, arm in arm the whole way down the elevator and as they exited into the spacious downstairs area. The couple walked over to the concierge counter and Yang checked them out, happy to speak with a person and not use her scroll now that they were in no sort of hurry.

“Do you have a breakfast here?” Yang handed over her card so the man could complete the transaction with her information.

“Well, we do have the hotel’s restaurant. They serve a light breakfast in the mornings for our guests.” he smiled congenially to them and returned her card.

“Thanks,” Yang accepted the card and returned it to her wallet. The man nodded politely and they stepped away towards the restaurant. They sat and ordered two coffees with their meals, eggs, bacon and toast. Yang had enjoyed last night’s meal immensely, the steak they’d had was just delicious but she was happy to get something she was used to again.

“So, are we doing anything today?” Yang leaned back in her chair and looked around the little restaurant. It was obviously styled for dinners and evening entertainment but she was sure the breakfast would be just fine.

“I dunno. We’ve gotta hit the gym but I’m pretty free.” Nora began trying to balance the salt shaker on its corner.

“Maybe we could spend some time with Ren?” Yang leaned back in her chair, putting it on the rear two legs and kept herself away from the table so she wouldn’t knock over Nora’s little balancing act. The girl stuck out her tongue as she focused and tried to get it just right and then pulled both her hands away quickly. “I think Weiss said something about her sister visiting so Ruby should be free too.”

“What about Blake?” Nora tipped the salt shaker back and forth between her fingers, trying to find its center of mass.

“Oh she’s got a date with Sun. They’re going to a rally at some park. It’s a pretty cool like Faunus rights group that works with schools. They’re gonna be gone all day.”

“Ta da,” the salt shaker stood for a moment and then fell over, spilling a little salt. “Aww dang it.” she swept the salt off the table and looked up at Yang. “Yeah we could see Ren and Ruby. I don’t think he’s doing anything either. It’ll be fun, all four of us together.” Nora pulled out her scroll and began typing up a quick message to her closest friend to ensure he had time to spend with them. In the meantime the waitress returned with their coffees and assured them that their food would be out shortly.

“You know I talked to him the other day.” Nora looked up from her scroll at Yang’s comment.

“You talk to him all the time,” Nora teased.

“No,” she laughed, “I mean without you there.”

“Wait really? Like in class or something?” Nora slid her coffee over to herself.

“No, it was well.” Yang stopped as she realized what she would have to explain, “Well I wasn’t really confident in my pancake cooking abilities so I asked him for some pointers. He showed me how to do the heart and everything.” Yang grabbed her right arm with her left hand and rubbed a little, fidgeting in her embarrassment. Nora giggled adorably and Yang relaxed a little, that laugh always made her relax.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Nora giggled again and Yang laughed as well, feeling the last of her tension release. “You know I would have loved them just because you made them.” Nora smiled brightly and lifted the mug to take a sip.

“Yeah but I wanted them to be good too and I wanted it to be special and everything.” Yang waved her hands and tried to focus. “That’s not why I brought it up though.” Nora lowered her coffee and made a little hum, beckoning Yang to continue. “It was right after we went to the carnival together and he thanked me for like being nice and treating him like part of the group while we were all there and everything.”

"Oh he's so nice. I told him you would love him. And I mean the only other one's there were Jaune and Pyrrha and they're his team." Yang took a sip of her coffee as Nora prattled on about Ren, "He's just so insecure sometimes. But that's just Ren I guess."

"Well that's actually kinda what we talked about. He," Yang paused again, suddenly slightly uncomfortable as she realized this would be like Nora trying to hook Ruby up with someone. Then Yang realized they had discussed exactly that last night with Ruby and Weiss. Maybe they were even closer with each other then she realized. "He asked me to help find him someone. A girlfriend kind of someone." Nora stopped and quirked an eyebrow.

"Really? Renny finally wants a girlfriend?" she set down her coffee and splashed a little on the table, "How did he not mention this to me?"

"Maybe it was a little weird for him because you're like his sister? I know I probably wouldn't have talked to Ruby about us if she hadn't brought it up first." Yang grabbed a napkin and went to wipe up Nora's spill just as the waitress returned with their plates. The eggs were steaming and the bacon smelled absolutely divine. The waitress sent down their plates and they both thanked her before digging in.

"Yeah, but I mean, I've been telling him for so long that he should try and date someone. He never really has before." Nora said and then returned to her food.

"Shooo any ideas?" Yang said through a mouth full of egg and then took a bite of bacon without even swallowing.

"Hmmm, not really." Nora swallowed, "I mean Blake is with Sun, Pyrrha is with Jaune, and Weiss and Ruby are well whatever they are. Plus I don't think he would really like any of them like that anyways."

"That's what I said too and he agreed. I was thinking maybe someone older than us so they're as mature as him and all that." Yang washed her first few mouthfuls down with more of the coffee. Nora continued eating and chewed rather thoughtfully.

"These eggs really aren't that good." She stopped and looked down at them.

"I know, I think we're just really hungry." Yang laughed a little, "The bacon's good though right?"

"Well duh, it's bacon." Nora ate an entire strip all at once. "What about Velvet?"

"Isn't she dating Coco?"

"Oh dang I forgot. I guess I never really even thought she was gay." A waitress dropped a plate and Yang looked over at the noise. Nora took the chance to steal a piece of bacon.

"I guess I never thought about it. I mean she's with Coco so I just kinda wrote it off." Yang turned back from the noise and looked down to continue eating. She noted the bacon's absence and raised her eyes to Nora slowly. Nora still had half of the delicious meat in her hand and tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Well I mean obviously." Nora threw it in her mouth and Yang gasped.

"Hey, that was mine."

"But I love you." Nora smiled and Yang's playful anger crumbled.

"Yeah well you owe me now." she crossed her arms.

"I think I can make it up to you." Nora winked, "What are we gonna do about Ren though?"

"I don't know. I really can't think of anyone that would work for him." Yang leaned back in her chair with one of the pieces of toast.

"After Pyrrha and Blake I thought we were pretty good at this too." Nora laughed.

"Yeah, I guess we just got lucky."

"Okay well it's decided then. Today we will solve both of our problems. We have to find someone that works for Ren and figure out what to do about Weiss and Ruby. Nora lifted her fork above her head like a sword before a charge. Yang let her chair legs fall back to the floor and lifted her piece of toast as well.

"This is gonna be so much fun."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, okay so I thought I had posted this chapter yesterday but it appears I never did. I am really sorry about that, but here it is. There will be a chapter out tomorrow and I will definitely make sure I post it. It looks like the issue this time was that I saved it to the site but just as a draft chapter, I didn't actually publish it and make it live. My apologies again, I really don't know how that slipped past me.
> 
> Well, I hope you all liked it. This chapter definitely continues in the theme of it having been one real life month and two in the story since Yang and Nora started dating. That's why the chapter title is a repeat. "The Morning After" was the chapter after they started dating so it felt appropriate here as well, also for other obvious reasons.
> 
> A little more setup here for what will be the next big section of the story. Some reviewers have called Yang and Nora things like the relationship masters of Vale or Beacon and that is fairly accurate although they haven't actually done all too much yet. They just kind of kick things forward for people who have stalled out. Let's hope their winning streak continues.
> 
> Thanks so much for all your support and critiques and for reading this whole thing. Your presence means a lot to me, every single one of you. You reading is what keeps me writing at three am and makes me edit and re-edit until I think it all works. Thanks so much for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	25. One Big Happy Family Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all have real family and people who are like family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang threw the bike's cover up and over her precious motorcycle, covering it to protect it from dust and dirt and any possible water that might leak through the parking structure if it decided to rain. Nora helped her strap it on and once they were finished they headed for the exit.

"So did Ren ever get back to you?" Yang reached over and grasped Nora's hand as they walked.

"Yeah, I think he was meditating this morning since the room's empty. But he said he's up to hang out." Nora smiled and rubbed at Yang's thumb with her own.

"Awesome," they exited into the courtyard and Yang shielded her eyes momentarily from the sudden sunlight, "We're not like interrupting are we? I know he likes to have time alone." Nora shook her head.

"Oh no, no. I'm sure he's been up for a couple hours already and done all his stuff." Nora moved in front of Yang and spun around walking backwards in front of her and grabbed her other hand. "So are we gonna go anywhere or just hang out in the dorms?"

"I don't know. Did you have anywhere in mind?" Yang smiled, Nora was still in a wonderful mood since that morning.

"Well we do have to go the gym. Wanna take Ren and Ruby with us?" Nora snickered evilly.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. Ruby sorta hates the gym. She says it smells bad." Yang laughed, she knew Ruby would never go for that idea."And she doesn't like using the locker room showers or keeping her clothes in the lockers. She's kind of weird about that stuff."

"Oh my Oum she is perfect for Weiss." Nora spun back to Yang's side and continued walking normally.

"We could play a game or something, like frisbee or catch or hide and go seek or something silly like that." Yang offered.

"That sounds awesome. I haven't run around just for fun in so long." Nora clenched Yang's hand in excitement at the prospect.

"Alright," Yang said excitedly. It had been so long since she had really just played and it seemed like a fun way to spend the afternoon, "You have to promise not to get any of your sloths to help you if we play hide and go seek though."

"I make no promises." Nora leaned up and kissed Yang on the cheek and then went sprinting off towards the dorms. Yang just laughed and lumbered off after her, not even bothering to try and keep pace as she knew there was no chance.

She reached the dorms and was surprised to see Nora nowhere in sight. She knew Nora was fast but Yang didn't think she had fallen that far behind. Usually she waited outside of wherever they were headed when she ran ahead like that. Yang glanced around the outside quickly and decided that Nora must have been too excited and continued inside without her. It's not like she didn't know where she would be going. Yang moved through the double doors and headed for the stairs but found herself tackled to the floor.

"Sneak attack!" Nora bellowed and Yang collapsed under her weight as the demonic, loveable little redhead came flying off the doorjamb where apparently she had been balancing, lying in wait for her blonde girlfriend. Yang rolled over and found Nora straddling her in the middle of the hallway with a very triumphant grin on her face. "Gotcha. You're gonna have to run faster than that to keep up with me," she stuck out her tongue.

"Oh yeah you got me alright. This is just terrible." Yang ran her hands gently along Nora's legs, just barely sliding her fingertips under the hem of her shirt as she reached her waist. Nora's tongue got sucked back in her mouth and she changed her face from a playful grin to a lustful smirk. Nora leaned down and Yang lifted her head just far enough from the floor to meet her and their lips sealed against each other. Yang kept her hands on Nora's legs and Nora dropped her hands to either side of Yang's head to support her weight as they deepened their kiss.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." A voice cried out and Yang pulled away from Nora as she recognized the very distinct accent ring out from the top of the stairs. "Oh no, I'm so sorry." Velvet spun around and held her hands up to her eyes so she definitely couldn't see any more of what she had just seen.

Nora jumped hurriedly off of Yang and they both rushed to their feet, straightening their clothes and attempting to look as much as possible like a couple who had not just been passionately making out on the floor.

"Hey Velvet, sorry about that." Yang called out to the girl who still had her back turned. Her large Faunus ears swayed slightly as she turned slowly around to face them again. She didn't pull her hands down from her face yet but instead separated her fingers slightly so that she could peer through the cracks to see if they were decent.

"Yeah sorry. I caught her by surprise." Nora slugged Yang in the shoulder playfully and Yang blushed just a little, more embarrassed that she had been caught off guard than anything else. She had gotten so caught up in the moment she had completely forgotten that they were wide out in the open.

"No it's okay," Velvet stammered out, finally lowering her hands from her eyes. "I just- I shouldn't have- I'm sorry that I-" Velvet floundered about, trying to find something to apologize for even though Yang and Nora were obviously the only ones at fault here.

"Velvet seriously it's fine. We're sorry." Yang started up the steps. It was rather awkward talking to someone from like thirty feet away and they needed to get up to their dorms anyways.

"Besides, it's nothing we haven't seen Coco do to you before." Nora teased as they made their way closer to the second-year girl. Yang watched as Nora's comment reached Velvet and her ears visibly drooped and her eyes fell to the floor.

"I'm really sorry I've gotta go." Velvet rushed down the stairs past them and out the front doors.

"Oh c'mon Nora you know how shy she is." Yang turned on her girlfriend as the other girl ran out.

"I was trying to make her laugh." Nora watched as she left as well, "She just saw us kissing. I was trying to ease the tension a little." Nora made little circles with her index finger and thumb and started breathing in and out slowly, mocking Ren's meditation. "Oouuummmmmmmm"

"Alright, that's it. Up to the room with you." Yang swooped down and swung Nora up on her shoulder. Nora kept her eyes closed and continued her 'meditation humming' all the way to the dorm's front door. Yang set Nora down on her feet and went to knock but the door swung gently open and revealed a waiting Ren.

"You know Nora. I shouldn't be able to hear you meditating from downstairs."

"I just meditate harder than you Renny." Nora leaned over and poked him in the nose, "Boop." A small smile spread across the boy's lips and he stepped out into the hallway.

"So, we are also having your sister join us?" Ren turned to Yang.

"Yep, that's the plan," Yang turned around in the hallway and rapped on the Team RWBY door with the back of her fist, "Alright Rubes, let's go." There was no answer, no hurried sound of cookie boxes being put away of flash of rose petals under the door. None of the things that usually indicated Ruby was running late and trying to hurry to catch up. "C'mon Rubes." Yang reached down and opened the door and saw possibly her worst nightmare. Standing in the room was not one, but two platinum white, perfectly maintained, Schnee ponytails. As the door swung open they both turned to face her.

"Oh Yang, I thought that was you." Weiss said, using a formal voice Yang and the rest of Team RWBY rarely heard from her anymore, "Sister this is Yang. My partner's older sister. Yang this is my older sister, Winter."

"Hey Yang," Ruby leaned out from behind the two Schnee girls and waved emphatically, "We're uhh, giving Winter a tour of the dorm room. It was pretty short."

"Hello Yang, Xiao Long is it." Winter's words implied a question but her tone held no hint of confusion. She extended a slender, nearly porcelain white hand out for Yang to shake. Yang stepped forward to meet her and shot her hand forward and gripped Winter's hard, intending to show the taller Schnee sister exactly who she was and was surprised when the girl's visibly smaller hand refused to give in the slightest. Yang plastered on a big smile for her and laughed.

"That's me, the one and only," Yang pulled her hand away, breaking the handshake and moved back a step to stand back with Nora and Ren.

"So I've heard." Winter turned to the other two. "I'm sorry, I don't believe I know either of you."

"Nora Valkyrie," Nora nearly shouted and Yang grinned internally. She was sure the Schnee wouldn't know what to do with her. Nora reached forward and gave Winter a hard handshake as well but didn't break it immediately. "I'm Yang's girlfriend, so kinda like a big sister for Ruby too." Winter looked at her silently for a moment and then over to Ren, Nora did not release her hand but continued pumping it up and down.

"Lie Ren," Ren bowed his head ever so slightly and made no move to extend his arms from where they were clasped behind his back. Nora was still shaking with Winter after all.

"And he's like my brother, because I mean we've known each other basically forever and ever." Nora's voice drew Winter's attention back. The older Schnee girl looked down at their still clasped hands in puzzlement and finally pulled her hand away with a polite smile and a nod.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Winter turned back to Yang, "And to finally make your acquaintance. I've heard a lot about you and your sister."

"Oh really," Yang looked to Weiss, "Dang Weissy that's so nice. You didn't have to tell her about me." Weiss smiled nervously and Yang looked back to Winter.

"Oh no, I heard about you all on my own. Just know that if your recklessness gets my sister harmed in any way you will have graver concerns than explaining it to Ozpin." Winter's words seemed to stab at Yang and she was sure she felt the room drop a few degrees as she spoke. "Weiss, I only have a little time left. I would like to speak with you alone for a little while." Winter turned to her younger sister.

"Oh yes of course sister," Weiss stepped forward and would have run right into Yang on her way to the door had the blonde not made way for her. "I have a very nice spot where we can talk privately." Winter moved to follow her out of the room.

"It was a pleasure everyone." She looked to the three of them in one motion and then specifically at Ruby, "Ruby." Winter gave the little brunette a small dip of her head and then filed out behind Weiss, closing the door with a solid thunk.

There were a few moments of silence finally broken by Nora chattering her teeth together and rubbing at her arms like she was cold.

"And I thought Weiss was the Ice Queen. That girl makes her look warm and snuggly." Yang moved over to Nora and rubbed at her back with both hands, _warming_ her.

"She was quite direct," Ren moved further into the room, standing between Nora and Ruby so their group made a small half circle between the beds.

"She's not that bad guys," Ruby moaned out, "She's just really proper. Weiss was just like that when we met her."

"Ruby, even Weiss was not that bad." Yang laughed, she didn't think those were words she would ever say.

"Wasn't her coat really nice though? It just needed some little pink stripes on the collar instead of those little black bars." Nora said cheerfully.

"I believe those indicate her rank in the Atlesian military as a Special Operatives Huntress." Ren said, rather matter of factly.

"Yeah, yeah. She's in Atlas's army and only got to come here to make a report to General Ironwood because he's here for all the Vytal Festival security and she's always on like super dangerous top secret missions and stuff and I'm really not supposed to have said anything because Weiss told me I wasn't supposed to tell anybody but now you all know." Ruby's thoughts jumbled out as she spoke and she threw her hood up over her head before the last words had even left her mouth.

"Well just because she's in the military doesn't mean she can go around all high and mighty. I think I should go teach her a lesson about messing with our family." Yang pushed one sleeve of the fancy shirt she was still wearing from the night before up around her elbow and turned to the door.

"Yang wait don't," Ruby threw her hood back and reached out for her older sister.

"What Ruby? Me beating up her sister is not gonna ruin your chances with Weiss." Yang looked over her shoulder at Ruby and rolled up her other sleeve, "I bet it won't even take that long."

"No Yang don't. She fought Uncle Qrow earlier. She's really really good." Ruby's words halted Yang in her tracks.

"She did what now?" Yang spun on her heel to face Ruby.

"She fought Uncle Qrow. It was kinda his fault though, I mean she started it, but it was because of him. You know how he is sometimes." Ruby calmed down as she saw her sister wasn't going to go try and fight the Schnees.

"Is Uncle Qrow still here? Why didn't you tell me he was?" Yang rolled her sleeves back down and calmed a little.

"I didn't know really. I went out with Weiss to meet her sister and then she was fighting Uncle Qrow and Ozpin came and made them stop so I came back to the dorm but then Weiss brought Winter back here to show her the room and it was really awkward because I was singing to myself with my headphones on when they came in and I didn't notice and they must have heard me sing a whole lot because Weiss had to tap on my shoulder to make me stop." Ruby threw her hood back up over her head again.

"You sing with your headphones on too? We should sing together sometime." Nora ran over and grabbed Ruby forcefully by the shoulders.

"You wouldn't be able to hear each other very well Nora." Ren stated simply and she looked over her shoulder at him without releasing Ruby.

"But we could hear the music Ren, duh." Nora stuck out her tongue and Ruby laughed, lifting her hood off her eyes but not flipping it off her head.

"Whatever, as long as she doesn't start anything I'll leave her alone." Yang huffed.

"So are we still gonna go play catch?" Nora spun around in a little circle in the middle of the room with her arms out to her sides and collapsed on Blake's bed.

"Yeah, let's go, are you ready Rubes?" Yang uncrossed her arms, Nora really did always cheer her up. Ruby looked at herself, combat boots on under a pair of her tight black leggings and a combat skirt and then up to Yang, still wearing dress slacks and fancy blouse.

"Uhh yeah, are you?" Ruby cocked her head to one side and the hood fell the rest of the way off. Yang looked down at herself and sighed, just realizing what she and Nora were still wearing.

"We gotta change Nora," Yang moved over to her dresser and started digging around for some outdoor, play appropriate clothing.

"Aww but you're bed is sooo comfy." Nora grabbed at the top blanket and rolled herself into a burrito of covers and huntress.

"Weren't you the one who wanted to play outside?" Yang turned from her dresser and saw Nora, "and that's Blake's bed." Nora sprung out of the blankets at Yang.

"Why didn't you tell me you had the top bunk?" Nora put an accusatory finger in Yang's face.

"What?" Yang tilted her head back in shock.

"That's gonna be an issue. We will definitely knock it right off those books it's on." Nora turned away and inspected the stacks of books supporting the top bunk, "Oh yeah these will not do at all." she poked at them.

"Nope, nope nope nope." Ruby pushed them both towards the door, "You get to change in JNPR's room, go on." Yang and Nora both laughed as they were forced out of the room and the door shut hurriedly behind them. They made their way across the hall and into JNPR's room which was empty.

"Huh, and here I expected the lovebirds to be in here." Yang glanced around the empty room.

"Nah, they're always training together and going on long walks at night or staying up all night whispering to each other about their families and stuff." Nora threw her hands up in the air as she talked, catching Yang's attention. She turned quickly around and found a now very topless Nora standing there with a very playful smirk on her lips.

"Oh really?"

"Oh definitely, we were interrupted earlier." Nora tackled Yang onto the nearest mattress.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Okay, the first thing I've gotta address here is that I'm definitely toying with the canon timeline just slightly in this chapter. It isn't quite the Vytal Festival yet but Qrow and Winter have already made their visits to Beacon. That's all, I just have them visiting a little bit earlier than they should have, I hope that's alright.
> 
> I hope you liked this one as it is starting to set the mood for the next few chapters, probably through Sunday's post will all be around the topics brought up here. As always please let me know how you feel about it, I always, always love to hear from you.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and please remember to check out today's chapter of "Friends and Loved Ones" it's got a fight in it and the chapter itself is over 6k words so please enjoy.
> 
> -Zach


	26. One Big Happy Family Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Nora finish "getting ready" and make their way back over to their siblings in the other room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Yang pulled on a pair of tan shorts and slid a tight fitting yellow tshirt on, pulling her hair out of the collar and fluffing it a little. She could hear Nora just on the other side of the open bathroom door washing up a little before they headed back over to Team RWBY's dorm. When Nora had attacked her Yang had hoped they could have a quickie of sorts and get back over to their waiting friends rather quickly. But, Nora didn't seem to have a stopping point and now it had been a full half hour and she wasn't sure if her legs were in any condition to go play frisbee.

"You're a pretty quick learner Yang," Nora emerged from the bathroom, decked out in a little pair of pink booty shorts, a white t-shirt and a bright pink sweatband emblazoned with her hammer insignia.

"What do you mean?" Yang looked her over and was surprised to find herself wanting more of the petite redhead even though they had literally just put their clothes back on.

"I mean you're really really good at that." Nora pointed to the extremely disheveled bed they had left behind, "I'm gonna have to get Pyrrha new sheets." Yang's eyes flew open.

"Those weren't your sheets? Wait," Yang glanced at the bed they had used, "I thought you had the outside bed?"

"Wow, not even a thanks for the compliment," Nora skipped forward and gave Yang a kiss on the cheek, leaning towards the big blonde and flaring her arms out behind her to just peck at Yang's cheek. "Pyrrha and I switched beds when she and Jaune started dating. That way they're still on opposite sides of the room but they don't have to talk over me at night."

"Nora, we can't just use other people's beds." Yang stood there in shock even as Nora's lips brushed her cheek.

"It'll be fine. I told her that her and Jaune can use my bed whenever they want too. They can even push the beds together and have one big space to use." Nora laughed and Yang just stood there, mouth hanging open. She imagined having two whole mattresses of space to use, no more slipping off the edge or struggling to not fall off the end of the bed.

"And Pyrrha was okay with that?" Yang asked, still quite unsure of Nora, no matter how tempted she was by the idea of a double bed.

"Well she wasn't exactly... I mean she didn't say yes. But she also didn't say no." Nora looked around the room, trying to hide her guilty conscience in one of the corners.

"Nora!" Yang pushed at her shoulder playfully. "Your bed is literally right next to hers. We could have moved."

"Yeah but that would have slowed us down." Nora was whining now, "I mean Ren and Ruby are waiting on us."

"Oh cause we were _so_ quick about it," Yang mocked her. They had already wasted so much time, the half second it would have taken to hop beds would not have been wasted.

"Well you were quick, that's for sure." Nora stuck out her tongue and Yang gasped.

"Excuse me for taking my time with you," Yang crossed her arms with a huff, "Beside, not all of us can make our fingers tingle like that." Nora leaned in and kissed Yang more gently this time, letting her lips linger on Yang's cheek long enough for the big blonde to calm down a little.

"Well next time it's my turn then." Nora slid her mouth over and Yang could feel her breath on her ear as she whispered, "I'll make it take all night." Yang felt a small shudder of anticipation and turned to grab Nora by the hips. It was mostly to prevent her boisterous girlfriend from doing anything else to get her excited. They really had to get back over there to Ruby and Ren.

"I plan on making you keep that promise," Yang gave Nora a very serious look and she just giggled and pulled away towards the door. Yang followed after her and they grabbed each other's hands as they moved across the hallway and back into Team RWBY's dorm.

"...really just talk to her? You think it's that simple?" Ruby was seated on the floor of the dorm room next to Ren. The large screen against the wall had video games up, but their scrolls were set aside and the game was paused.

"It truly is that simple. She just needs to know how you feel," Ren turned from Ruby to the couple that had just entered, "Welcome back. Are you two ready to go now?"

"Yup, we just had to-" Yang started but stopped abruptly as Ruby yelled and threw her hands over her ears.

"We just had to have sex first." Nora said proudly, hands firmly on her hips. Ren and Yang both groaned and Ruby began making a loud incoherent singing noise to block it all out.

"Nora, that is private information." Ren turned to Ruby and tapped her on the knee, indicating she could put her hands down.

"What? I mean I'm sure you guys heard us, or at least you heard Yang." Nora laughed again and poked at Yang's side.

"Ahhhhhhh Ren!" Ruby screamed and threw her hands back over her ears and hummed loudly. Ren sighed and stood, straightening his clothes as he did.

"That was why we had been playing a rather loud video game. To ensure Ruby did not hear." Ren nodded towards the screen and their discarded scrolls.

"Thank you Ren. At least someone is trying to protect my little sister's virtue." Yang put a hand on his shoulder and Ren tilted his head in acknowledgement.

"Can I open my ears now?" Ruby asked in an overly loud voice.

"Yeah, I won't talk about-" Yang gave Nora a sharp, but gentle elbow to interrupt her.

"C'mon Ruby. Take your hands off your ears." Yang said, slipping ever so subtly into her caring, motherly voice that she reserved for her little sister. Ruby slowly lowered her hands from her ears, eyes darting back and forth between Yang and Nora warily.

"Uhh… I know you two are like really involved but can you not talk like that?" Ruby's face was red with embarrassment and she stared directly at the ground as she spoke, "It's just… it makes me feel really weird because Yang's my sister and I don't even think about that stuff yet and-"

"Ruby, I'm sorry," Nora stepped forward and wrapped Ruby in a very unexpected hug, "I'm just so happy with Yang I get excited sometimes." Nora pulled away and left her hands on Ruby's shoulders, "I'll try my best not to anymore."

"And if she does, feel free to squirt her with a water bottle or something," Yang joked and saw a wide grin stretch across Ren's face and a bout of laughter shake his frame for a moment before he reeled his emotions back into his usual placid state. Nora spun on the big blonde.

"I don't need a water bottle to make me-" the redhead caught herself short and put a hand firmly over her own mouth and slowly turned back to Ruby, "That actually might be a good idea." she laughed and threw herself face first down onto on Blake's bed.

"So are you guys ready to go? Or do you wanna keep playing Hunter Combat X?" Yang gestured casually at the still paused videogame and plopped down next to Nora, resting a hand on the back of her girlfriend's head. Ren looked over to Ruby, then to the game and back to Yang and Nora.

"I believe we were done playing. Ruby and I were actually discussing her concerns about her feelings towards Weiss." Ren said calmly despite the shocked look that Ruby gave him.

"Ren, I told you not to tell anyone." Ruby shouted out, startled.

"But Nora already told me so I know that she and Yang both know." Ren looked to her.

"Nora, I told you not to tell anybody." Ruby shouted again and Nora bolted to an upright sitting position.

"Ren isn't just anybody though." Nora gave her a playful smirk, "Plus you told him anyways right?" Ruby just crossed her arms indignantly.

"C'mon Rubes, we just wanna help you figure this out. It's eating you up and you aren't happy with how things are now." Yang slid off the bed and sat cross legged on the floor across from Ruby. Nora scooted over a little on the bed and put her legs around Yang's shoulders and began to idly play with her hair. Yang was still surprised how comfortable she was with that. It was so new for her to let anyone touch her hair at all, much less play with it. But, Nora's strong little fingers felt incredibly soothing against the back of her scalp and she was gentle and respectful with her hair, never braiding it or making in knotty.

"But if you keep telling everyone then she's gonna find out from someone else and that's bad because she'll think I didn't want to talk to her about it and that'll be weird so she might bring it up when I'm not ready and I'll say something silly and mess everything up." Ruby tried to take a deep breath at the end of her rant but it came out shakily.

"We aren't gonna tell anyone else Ruby. We only told Ren, you know you can trust him." Yang said sweetly and Ren nodded his head in agreement.

"I will not tell a single other person. You have trusted me with this." Ren gave Ruby a small warm smile and she seemed to relax a little.

"Okay but still what if she finds out because I'm acting so weird around her lately or if she just figures it out because she's so smart?" Ruby gasped with a sudden realization, "What if I like mumble about in my sleep?" She lurched forward and grabbed Yang by the collar, "Do I still talk about my dreams in my sleep?"

"You're dreaming about her?" Nora's head peaked around Yang's massive mane.

"I thought you didn't think about that stuff yet?" Yang raised a suspicious eyebrow and Ruby fell backwards, away from her, cheeks flush again.

"No uhh, what? I don't. Just cause it's dreams doesn't mean…" Ruby mumbled, trying to deny with her words, though the emotions were clearly evident on her face. "Do I talk in my sleep or not?"

"Uhh yeah, sometimes. It's usually just like cookies and Zwei though." her sister replied with a grin.

"Ohh no. I have to start wearing a gag to bed don't I?" Ruby pulled her knees up to her chest and let her forehead drop onto them.

"Now that's kinky, I don't think Weiss will be into that." Nora laughed and returned to playing with Yang's hair.

"Nora!" Ruby's head jolted up from her knees and her face was redder than before.

"You seem to be very worried that she'll find out the wrong way." Ren's even voice drew Ruby's eyes and brought her cheeks closer to their usual pale white.

"Yeah, it has to be just right so that I can talk to her and explain it to her and I want it to be special too." Ruby let her knees slouch back down as she talked, "If I'm not ready I might say something wrong and if it's not special Weiss won't know how serious I am about it. She's really really into romantic stuff and I wanna do it that way."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Yang was so proud of her little sister, her affection for Weiss seemed so innocent and genuine.

"What if you bring her white roses? You know because white is like her color and roses are kind of your thing. That would be really sweet wouldn't it?" Nora didn't look up from where she was playing in Yang's hair. Ruby started at Nora's voice, expecting another tease but immediately softened when she heard her idea.

"Oh, wow, that's like, really romantic." Ruby fell limply against the bedframe behind her and looked at Nora blankly. After just a moment of silence Nora looked up and found Ruby's shocked expression.

"What? Just because my brain's in the gutter all the time doesn't mean I can't be romantic too." Nora dropped her hands to her sides, "Really, how do you think I got Yang? Just by squeezing her butt and shaking my hips?"

"I mean we did start going out because of a night at the club Nora." Yang looked over her shoulder with an apologetic smile. Nora huffed and Yang kissed her on the knee, causing her frown to dissolve away into happiness

"Do you think Weiss likes flowers though?" Ruby asked, snapping back to focus on the issue at hand.

"I believe she does. She was rather interested in the floral arrangements for the dance was she not?" Ren asked, looking to Yang who had helped set the whole dance up.

"Oh yeah, she wouldn't even let me bring in my fog machines because she said they would hurt the dang centerpieces." Yang whined, remembering the distinct lack of fog at the dance.

"Why don't you ask her on the last night of the Vytal Festival? That's not that long from now and there's gonna be a fair and fireworks and all kinds of stuff." Nora slid off the bed and fell next to Yang on the floor, "You could ask her right before the fireworks and then hold hands while you watch them. Then you would have the whole night together to talk and walk around the fair." Nora got a faraway look in her eyes as she imagined her romantic ideas being played out.

"Who knew you went in for the sappy stuff that much Nora?" Yang leaned away from her girlfriend to regard her skeptically.

"Wow, okay, who wanted to go out for the fancy dinner again?" Nora asked and Yang caught herself.

"Alright, alright point taken. Flowers and chocolates and slow boat rides through the lake from now on. No more wrestling Grimm in the woods and seeing who can punch a giant Ursa further." Yang nodded her head as if she understood and pulled out her scroll, "Let me just cancel a couple things I had planned and-" Nora slapped the scroll out of her hand to the floor.

"Yang Xiao Long, don't you change a damn thing." Nora said sternly and Yang's serious countenance broke into a wide grin and she gave Nora a kiss on the cheek.

"Never would," Yang said as she pulled away.

"I think Nora's plan will work though. You will have lots of time to spend with Weiss during the festival, watching the competition and exploring the fair grounds together. It will be a great build up to a wonderful confession." Ren smiled and Ruby seemed to grow nervous.

"Oh but then if she says no it'll be even worse." Ruby's eyes fell, "If I build it all up like that I'm gonna be so excited and nervous about that then if she says no I might just jump off of Ozpin's tower."

"She's not gonna say no Ruby." Nora said, head now resting on Yang's shoulder.

"You're a wonderful girl Ruby, she'll be very happy I'm sure." Ren put his hand comfortingly on Ruby's shoulder.

"Yeah, you just gotta believe in yourself and it'll all work out, I'm sure." Yang said as proudly as she could. Ruby had always had these little crisis of self-confidence when she was usually far beyond capable of handling whatever it was that was laid out in front of her. Ruby took several deep breaths to steady her nerves and managed to bring her stress level down a little with the help of their encouragement.

"Okay, okay, I think I can handle it. Can we go now or talk about something else though? I'm just- I'm gonna go crazy if we keep focusing on Weiss and me." Ruby clenched and unclenched her hands in her lap, still trying to wrangle her nerves. Nora turned a very mischievous look on Ren.

"Any progress over there? You seemed to have all kinds of help for Ruby." Nora asked and Ren looked over to her, a questioning tilt to his head.

"Yes, like I said. My problem isn't so much with the execution, it's just that I haven't found someone I can truly say that I like." Ren glanced to Ruby who was now paying very much attention to him and sighed just slightly, "I'm trying to find a girlfriend Ruby. I asked, perhaps misguidedly, that Yang and Nora help me." Ruby's face immediately lit up with excitement and she bounced up and down.

"Oh Ren that's so exciting." Ruby clenched her hands into tiny fists and clapped her knuckles together in sheer exuberance, "Who are you thinking of asking?"

"That's the problem. I don't know many girls to ask." Ren smiled, happy that Ruby was just as excited as Nora and Yang had both been.

"What? Pffft that's ridiculous. You know a ton of girls. There's us and Pyrrha, there's all the transfer students for the festival like that really cute Faunus girl Neon and did you see that one team from Mistral, I think they're called Indigo, I don't know their names but they're all really cute. Plus there's Penny and Velvet and Coco and-" Ruby started to rant and Ren lifted a single hand to halt her torrent of names.

"You three are all rather involved, as are Blake, Pyrrha, Velvet and Coco. As for the rest of those girls, I don't really know any of them and they are transfer students only for the festival so I wouldn't really get to have any sort of meaningful relationship before they had to leave again." Ren said calmly and without malice, he was grateful for Ruby's help but also didn't want to ramble on about impossible situations.

"Oh...yeah," Ruby's excitement level dropped considerably, "But I mean there's a ton of girls at Beacon that we just don't know. There's a really cute girl in Professor Oobleck's class who sits in the back row." Yang and Nora both looked at Ruby suspiciously, "She has this really cool sword on a chain that uses dust to heat up really hot so it can cut through stuff super easy. It's really cool except it doesn't have a gun mode." Ruby attempted to explain herself. Yang chuckled and shook her head, of course Ruby had only noticed someone because they had a cool weapon.

"We were actually thinking someone older might work for Ren since he's looking for a really serious kind of relationship that a lot of people our age aren't yet." Yang said in an attempt to calm Ruby down and get her brain to stop jumping to so many wild conclusions.

"And because he's all super serious ya know," Nora giggled a little and poked at Ren's leg.

"You mean like Winter?" Ruby looked back at Ren questioningly. All three of them sort of fell back in shock at the idea.

"Uhh, no I don't think so Ruby. She's kind of… well she's kind of a stuck up stick in the mud don't you think?" Yang asked and Ruby seemed to take offense at the idea, "I mean she really is way worse than Weiss was when she got here. Probably because she's in the Atlas military, I hear they're all like that because they work with robots." Nora giggled at that and began moving her arms about in hard, straight lines like a 'robot', making little whirring and beeping noises.

"Hey." Ruby whined, "Robots can be really really nice, you just have to get to know one."

"But I agree Ruby. Her position with the military seems to be a very large part of her life and the way those officers live is not exactly what I have in mind for myself at any point." Ren completely ignored the robot comment in explaining himself. Yang was still stuck on it, wondering what in the world Ruby meant by getting to know one. She just hoped she wasn't starting to think that _Crescent Rose_ could talk again, that was a huge fiasco the first time right after she made it.

"And even if that happened, you said she's always off on super secret missions right? They would never be able to see each other." Nora ceased her robotic movements, frozen in place with her arms at weird angles, "Could you help me Yang? I need a jump start." Yang reached towards her girlfriend gently to help and pushed her over into a heap on the ground.

Nora collapsed on herself in a giggling heap and then sprawled out on the ground, sticking her legs over Yang's lap and spreading her arms out above her head. Ruby giggled too and did not seem as hurt or surprised as she had been about them shooting Winter down as a choice for Ren.

"Plus she's just soo old." Nora moaned from her spot on the ground and Yang couldn't help but laugh out loud. Weiss's sister was only a few years older than them but Nora was right, that seemed to make her incredibly old, she must be what? Twenty-five.

"I really appreciate you trying to help me but I know that now that I am actively looking for someone, I'm sure that it will work out. It's only been a little while so far." Ren patted Nora on the shoulder and she closed her eyes, humming in happiness with the sunlight reflecting off her hair.

"We want you to be happy though Ren." Ruby sat a little straighter, crossing her legs underneath her.

"I am very happy Ruby. Thank you." He gave her a polite little nod of his head, "I have waited a while to seek out a partner," Nora's eyes flew open and she gave Ren a playful glare, "besides Nora." Ren sighed, "I don't want to rush it now."

"Alright, but we aren't gonna stop looking. If we see some cute girl giving you the eye we're gonna basically throw her at you, you understand?" Yang looked to Ren and he nodded his head gently, hair swaying in front of his eyes.

"Soooooo, are we gonna go do something now?" Nora's arms fell out to her sides in exasperation.

"We could dooooo, this!" Yang said and then began fouriously tickling the undersides of Nora's knees causing her to bounce upright and giggle uncontrollably, flailing about and trying to stop Yang from tickling her further. It didn't help though as Yang pinned her down and tickled her sides and reduced her to hysterical heap on the floor. Ruby shot up to her bed in a flash of rose petals. Yang stopped, keeping Nora pinned to the floor and turned to face Ruby.

"Running away sis'?

"Oh no, I'm not letting you two get anywhere near me. You might team up on me." Ruby said from her vantage point above the chaos. Ren looked calmly between the couple rolling about on the ground laughing and Ruby sheltering under her sheet.

"Or we could team up on her." Nora offered from her spot beneath the hulking blonde. A smile spread across both the shorter girl's lips and Ruby leapt from the bunk onto Yang's back with a fierce, high pitched battle cry. She tackled Yang off of Nora and started trying her best to get at her most ticklish spots, under her arms. Yang swung her arms haplessly around her, trying to bat Ruby away until Nora put her in a hold from behind. "We've got you now Xiao Long." Nora screamed and Ruby laughed as she pressed her assault, causing Yang to writhe about in a frenzy of ticklish joy. Ren laughed as he watched the three wrestle, chuckling out loud as Nora tried to hold Yang down and did an impressive job of it.

The door to the dorm swung open and Blake and Sun came barging in, Sun's arms wrapped around Blake's waist and hers around his neck, their lips firmly together. As soon as the door swung open everyone froze. Nora was holding Yang from behind her legs around her waist and arms under her shoulders, clasped behind her head. Ruby was straddling Yang's legs and had both hands around her sides where she had been tickling her. Sun and Blake fell away from each other and stood in horrified shock that they had barged in as they had and Ren just sat there, waiting for someone to react.

"Wooo, get it Blake!" Yang yelled from her spot between Nora and Ruby. She pumped a single fist into the air despite Nora's hold, cheering her partner on.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the journey to get Ruby and Ren with a significant other continues. Will they pull it off? What will Weiss think of Ruby's, now extremely sappy, confession. Will Ren find someone that he thinks he can really go for? I don't know, maybe, maybe not. Gotta just see what happens I guess, it's way out of my hands at this point.
> 
> Also, a note of kinda sadness here is that I will no be posting from June 30 to July 5 because I will be in LA for Anime Expo (I'll be cosplaying as Major'a Mask Skull Kid if you're there). Then again I will not post from July 19 to July 25 because I will be in San Diego for Comic Con (same cosplay again). So, my last post will be Tuesday June 28, then July 7 I'll start back up and stop again on July 17 and return on July 26. That said, I may post some little stuff in between those dates, maybe some one shots I have been kicking around in my head and that but there won't be updates to my major stories "Clubbin' " and "Friends and Loved Ones". I just won't have the time to give these stories that I feel they deserve or the time to respond to all your comments and reviews that I know you deserve.
> 
> I hope you're still enjoying this story as we approach the end. It's been a heck of a ride and we aren't quite done yet. The next two chapters will be up over the weekend.
> 
> -Zach


	27. Team Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The Vytal Festival was nearly upon Beacon and the hustle and bustle of commotion seemed to be reaching a fever pitch on campus. Students were mostly ignoring classes as they either trained for the Festival or just got so wrapped up in the excitement of everything that they couldn't focus on much else at all. The Professors were all knee deep in preparations for the Tournament or the surrounding festivities, and they couldn't really be bothered to keep tabs on them all anyways. To top it all off, just a few days ago, on the weekend before the Festival officially began, two full fledged Hunters had held what appeared to be a very intense sparring match in the main courtyard in the middle of the day.

Yang hadn't been there to see her Uncle Qrow fight that prickish Schnee girl, Winter. She couldn't even believe that Weiss's sister and her Uncle had somehow managed to run into each other on Beacon's campus of all places. It was completely conceivable though that once they had they had fought. Uncle Qrow was laid back, completely confident, a bit of a drunk and kind of sexist. Winter, as far as Yang could tell, was stuck up, self righteous and would not be okay with Qrow's attitude towards life in genral. Yang was just sad she hadn't been there to see it go down.

Team RWBY had just finished a training bout of their own and were in the cafeteria grabbing some food and giving their auras a rest and a chance to recharge before they went at it again. Yang's girlfriend was absent from the table because JNPR had fallen into the opposite schedule as RWBY and they were all in training right now, with plans to get food after, just as RWBY would be leaving. Nora and Yang would undoubtedly be able to spare a few minutes between rounds to say hi but today was a day to be spent with their teams preparing for the tournament.

"So, have we decided who is going to fight in the second round if we move on?" Weiss placed her fork carefully beside her plate on a small napkin and folded her hands in her lap.

"What is this _if_?" Yang flipped her hand over and poked her fork in Weiss's general direction accusingly, "There's no way we aren't gonna make it to the next round, absolutely no chance."

"Team RWBY is the best duh," Ruby had an entire plate of cookies, and given the increased training regimen she had them on right now, no one was willing to contest her on much of anything, not even Weiss. "Of course we're gonna win."

"We shouldn't get overly confident, there are other very capable teams in the tournament." Blake was eating more than Yang had ever seen her eat before, the uptick in training must be affecting her. That or she was spending so much time with Sun that the boy was starting to rub off on her.

"We don't really have to worry about the first round because odds are we end up fighting some nobody team from Haven that we've never even heard of. I'm not worried." Yang relaxed and let the head of her fork fall back to her plate so she could continue eating

"Okay," Weiss held up her hands defensively, "I get it, we're the best ever. But-"

"That's right we are the best." Yang said through a full mouth and saw Weiss grimace which made her chuckle internally.

"Ever." her sister finished for her, bright and cheery as ever.

"Buut," Weiss started up again stretching the word to make sure they realized she was speaking again, "Who are we gonna use as our pair if it comes down to twos?" Weiss looked at Ruby and Blake and Yang looked at each other. It seemed like both sets of partners wanted to be paired with each other for the twos rounds.

"I'm actually not sure that my fighting style will work the best for the two versus two rounds." Blake said regretfully, giving Yang an apologetic stare, "Maybe if we could divide the enemy but there's no guarantee that's how it will turn out." Yang sighed, Blake was wrong they could handle anything the tournament threw at them together. She had no doubt they would be able to divide and conquer the foe, creating a mismatch where one would be able to easily outclass their opponent and then double team the other.

"No come on Blake. We've fought together a ton, we have awesome strategies worked out." Yang set her fork down rather forcefully, "I'll just take one of 'em and knock 'em across the arena so you can go one on one with their partner. "

"And what would you do if it was a pair like Yatsuhashi and Coco?" Weiss asked with more than a hint of derision in her voice. "You can't 'knock 'em across the arena' when they're his size and if you hit Coco that far she'll just rain dust rounds on you from way beyond your range."

Yang's temper cooled as she realized that Weiss had a point. There were pairs that would have a definite advantage against Yang and Blake as a team. Of course there were always weaknesses and strengths to a matching, no team was invincible.

"So what's your idea _Ice Princess_?" Yang put more than usual amount of sarcasm on the nickname and switched it to Princess as she was now sure that Weiss's older sister was the true Ice Queen. Ever since the encounter with Winter, Weiss and Yang had been on edge with each other. The whole fiasco had reminded Yang how different their families were and she was just desperately hoping Weiss could be better than the other Schnees for Ruby's sake. "You and Ruby? You go up against anyone who hits harder than a Beowulf and they'll tear you apart."

"Hey," Ruby yelled, "I have been eating meat, and bread and drinking all kinds of milk." She held up her arms and flexed, no real visible change apparent but obvious pride on the team leader's face. That calmed down Yang down even further, Ruby may not have put on much muscle but she was more than capable with her scythe. Between Weiss's glyphs to hold people off and the damage Ruby's _Crescent Rose_ could deal as a sniper at range and a scythe up close they probably would be quite effective in the tournament setting. Weiss grunted out a loud sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose hard, making the skin between her fingers go red.

"I was going to say, that you and I should make a team Yang." Weiss took a deep breath and eased her hand down, back into her lap. Yang was shocked at the suggestion, taken aback at the suddenness of it and how strange of a proposition it seemed. "Listen, we have nearly opposite fighting styles, so we will have a better range of abilities to counter any team we might face." Weiss had adopted her 'smarter than you' voice now and however angry it made Yang she had to admit that Weiss had a point. "Anyone fast enough to outclass me won't be able to take a hit from you and anyone big enough to square up with you won't see me coming."

"But will you be able to work together?" Blake gave Weiss the concerned look this time. Yang could make it work during a fight but Weiss had nearly gotten herself and Ruby killed during the initial team placement trials because she couldn't adapt and they had almost burnt the forest down. Admittedly, that was partly Ruby's fault too and Yang hadn't been there to see it, but based on what she had heard, Weiss had almost shot Ruby in the back with a jet of red dust flame.

"Of course we will be able to. That's what all this training is for right?" Weiss crossed her arms and looked to Ruby for support.

"Uhh yeah," Ruby faltered for a brief moment under Weiss's stare before recovering, "Why don't we do Blake and I against you two after we finish eating so we can test it out?" Ruby looked to each of them in turn and got no resistance, so she pumped a fist into the air. "Wooo go Team RWBY." The other three girls each pumped a fist into the air and cheered along with her.

"So guess what Nora told me?" Yang asked as they all returned to eating.

"If it's about you two or about Jaune and Pyrrha I really don't wanna hear it." Weiss shot Yang a merciless glare that didn't phase her one bit.

"Ewww. Don't tell us Yang." Ruby went to throw her hands over her ears.

"No, no it's about training." Yang laughed at how the two reacted to any hint of intimacy. If they ever did get together they might be too shy to ever even hug. "She told me that Jaune is trying to use Team Attacks like Ruby makes for us. With names and everything." Ruby made a scoffing noise as she tried to prevent herself from spewing milk everywhere. She prevented a disastrous spit take, but a small amount dribbled out onto her lip and down her chin. She hurriedly swallowed and looked around frantically for a napkin. Weiss picked one up from the table and dabbed at Ruby's mouth and cheeks, cleaning the milk from her face before giving her a gentle smile. Ruby blushed hard.

"Honestly Ruby, you are totally hopeless." Weiss said with very little of her usual ire.

"Thanks Weiss, that was almost really bad." Ruby brushed at her face with the hem of her cloak and turned to Yang but she could see that her little sister was fighting a losing battle against the redness in her cheeks. "I just.. I can't see Jaune coming up with very cool sounding names."

"I don't think Pyrrha would have very creative names either. She would probably use numbers and letters." Blake chuckled lightly and Yang had to lean back on the bench to let her laughter out. Ruby giggled happily and even Weiss's shoulder shook slightly in humor.

"Come on team, do move AXS29," Yang lifted one arm in front of her and held her other out to the side, mocking Pyrrha's stance. "There's no way Nora would remember what that meant, she'd probably just end up hitting them with her hammer."

"Isn't that all she ever really does?" Weiss fell slightly into their playful mood. "I mean, it's just a hammer." Weiss picked up her fork with both hands and swung it back and forth like a bat. Yang laughed in spite of herself, that was pretty much how her girlfriend fought.

"What if he has super silly names though? Then out in the ring he's yelling at them to do Flower Power or Thwack a Slap?" Ruby giggled and swung her legs back and forth under the table in her merriment. "I just hope they don't embarrass themselves."

"I wouldn't worry, they've got Nora and the Invincible Girl. I think they'll be fine." Yang sat back up and wiped at her eyes, "We should actually be ready just in case we have to fight them."

"We won't have to until the singles rounds, that's how the brackets are set up." Blake explained as she recovered from their joking and removed a small folded sheet of paper from her pocket. She laid it out on the table and they all saw a pyramid shaped tournament bracket that ended in a collection of competitors to participate in the one on one rounds.

"So cool!" Ruby looked at all the team names, "There are so many different teams."

"Oh wow, we won't have to fight anyone from Beacon until the last rounds." Weiss traced the bracket course for Team RWBY with her finger, "That will make preparing much easier."

"Happy you don't have to fight us in the prelims?" A voice rang out from behind Ruby and Weiss and the whole of Team RWBY swung their heads up to greet the new person.

"Hey Coco," Ruby waved emphatically despite the fact that the girl was right next to her. Coco gave Ruby a nod and a smile and put a foot up on the bench next to Weiss, leaning down on her knee and tipping her sunglasses forward. Weiss scooted a little off to the side towards Ruby to put some distance between herself and CVFY's team leader.

"You better not lose before the singles rounds Coco. I wanna go head to head." Yang threw a few playful jabs at the older girl, she was sure Coco was here to find out who they were sending to the singles, so she might as well tell her. If the choice was between her and Weiss for single combat, she knew who the team would pick.

"And what if we choose to send me to the singles rounds Yang?" Weiss crossed her arms and gave Yang what she assumed was supposed to be a competitive glare.

"So you two are the pair for the second round?" Coco turned to Weiss and peered at her over the top rim of her sunglasses, "You tell me if someone mars your beautiful face before then, it would be a shame to see it hurt."

"Excuse me?" Weiss recoiled slightly away from Coco

"That single scar is like a beauty mark, a single imperfection on an otherwise flawless face." Coco removed her sunglasses with a slight flourish and smirked at Weiss.

"Are you trying to hit on Weiss right now?" Yang tried to suppress a laugh, she always assumed Coco was much smoother than this.

"Aren't you involved with someone?" Weiss asked incredulously. Coco made a noise of derision and looked off to the side, out into the cafeteria.

"No," it was more of a mumble than a real answer, "Me and Velvet haven't been together for a while now." she turned back to Weiss and her confident grin reappeared. "So I'm totally free to show you a good time, what about Friday night, to kick off the Festival? I know some really nice restaurants downtown."

"Are you serious? Absolutely not." Weiss turned her head away and made a small, indignant hmmpf noise through her pursed lips, "As a matter of fact, I will be out with my leader that night." Ruby's face lit up with joy at that which Weiss missed because her back was turned but Coco evidently picked up on because she took her foot off the bench and backpedaled a step.

"Whoa, alright. I get it Ice Queen. Cold shoulder for me." Coco swung her glasses back up to her eyes and hesitated with them as she glanced at Yang, "If you and Nora ever go through a rough patch or anything. You know where my dorm is." She gave Yang a wink before sliding her glasses back over her ears and walking away without another word, apparently very unphased by Weiss's flat out refusal. Team RWBY sat in a stunned silence for a moment.

"That was so weird." Ruby muttered in confusion, "What even just happened?"

"Weiss shot down a terrible attempt at a hook-up that's what happened." Yang laughed and looked at the heiress across from her, arms still crossed in anger.

"How could Coco even believe I would react to something like that. It was so, so," Yang frowned in concentration as she tried to think of a word to aptly describe Coco's behavior.

"Pitiful," Blake deadpanned from her seat, "Absolutely pitiful."

"She might be worse than Jaune." Ruby peeped and they all chuckled.

"I don't know Rubes, that boy was pretty bad." Yang looked down at her mostly empty plate and sighed internally. There wasn't enough time to go get another plate.

"The nerve of some people. I didn't even know that she and Velvet had broken up." Weiss sounded like there was a note of sadness or regret in what she said. "It can't have been too long ago could it?"

"I dunno, Nora and I saw Velvet the other day and she didn't say anything." Yang piped up, resigning to the fact that she would have to go without any more food. "We didn't exactly ask though, she kind of caught us making out." Yang snickered at the memory.

"I'm sure that was a very comfortable situation for someone who had just been dumped." Blake gave Yang a smoldering stare, laced with disappointment, "She did say it had been a while though. Hopefully Velvet's okay"

"They were so cute together." Ruby whined, "Even if Coco was always all over her, it was adorable how Velvet would blush and hide her face. I thought they really liked each other."

"I wonder if that's weird for their team now? Since they're still partners and have to keep working together." Weiss asked no one in particular, just letting the question float uneasily in the air.

"I'm sure they'll work it out. They probably won't get back together if Coco's already out looking for someone new, but I'm sure their team will be fine." Yang had to intervene, she didn't want Weiss bringing that kind of thing up when they had just managed to convince Ruby to finally go for it with her.

"I hope they are, I don't want them to ruin their team." Ruby moaned.

"We are Huntresses first, above all else." Blake said with determination.

"I suppose you're right." Weiss shrugged in shoulders in resignation. "And you two are doing okay in your relationships right?" she looked across the table at Yang and Blake, genuine concern pooled in her piercing blue eyes.

"Oh yeah, we're great." Yang smiled like a fool, thinking of Nora. "Never been better."

"You're not taking that girl for granted are you, you big oaf?" Weiss squinted at Yang, lowering a suspicious eyebrow.

"No really." the blonde blurted out defensively, "We just… It's so easy with Nora. I never feel stressed to put on a big romantic show, but I always want to anyways. I love seeing her happy and hearing her laugh. She's always so playful and spontaneous with me, just dragging me off to do the most random things. I love it." Yang rested her elbows on the table and put her chin in her hands. "You should try it sometime Weiss, might help you calm down a bit." Weiss scoffed at her.

"Aww that's so sweet Yang. I'm so glad you two are happy together." Ruby had recovered from her earlier glumness to her usual chipper self.

"Thanks, I wouldn't have done it without you." Yang gave her little sister a smile, "Or you partner." Yang threw a one armed hug around her partner and Blake begrudgingly allowed herself to be pulled in.

"Blake?" Weiss turned to the Faunus girl currently being squashed by an overly affectionate Yang, "Sun is being respectful? I still don't really trust him." Yang released her so she could speak more comfortably

"Yes, he is actually much more refined than he looks," Blake reached up and corrected her bow, ensuring it completely covered her ears, "He can be very sweet," a small smile spread across her lips.

"Have you touched his tail Blake? Is it really soft?" Ruby asked in excitement and Blake blushed a little, her smile disappearing into a nervous grimace.

"Umm," she mumbled under her breath and coughed a little, "Yes, it's actually...uhh...quite soft."

"I wonder if he shampoos it in the shower? I mean it's hair right?" Ruby thought out loud.

"I bet he does, I mean I totally would if I had a tail," Yang thought about the possibility of a tail. If she got to choose though she would want more like a lion's, long and sleek with that awesome little puff of fur at the end.

"Wait, you mean you actually do something in the shower besides clog the drain with hair?" Weiss cocked her head to one side mockingly, "I had no idea."

"You don't know a lot of what goes on in the shower Weiss." Yang let a devious grin grow and thought of her and Nora's more recent escapades in that department.

"Yaaaang, that's gross!" Ruby slammed her fists on the table in frustration, "We all have to share that."

"You are so brutish." Weiss shook her head in bewilderment, "absolutely no regard for your teammates,"

"Hey now, I have tons of regards." Yang crossed her arms, "You haven't heard us have you? Or walked in on us yet? That's gotta count for something."

"Actually you're rather loud." Blake said shyly.

"Oh that's not fair." Yang turned to her partner, "You have super hearing. We could be on the roof and you'd hear us."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's common decency to keep your," Weiss cleared her throat, "romantic encounters private."

"Ewww Yang, I just showered this morning," Ruby whined again and looked down at herself, "I'm gonna have to shower in Team JNPR's room now."

"I don't think that's gonna help Ruby." Blake stated simply and it dawned on Ruby what she meant.

"That's it, we are buying bleach and you are washing the shower." Ruby jumped up to stand on her bench and pointed an accusatory finger at Yang

"But Ruby-" she began to protest.

"Ahh ah ah, Team Leader's orders, you have to." Ruby tried to muster all of her authority.

"You don't really think-" Yang was cut off again.

"And I'll tell Dad." Ruby stated firmly and Yang dropped her hands.

"Alright, alright I'll clean it." She resigned to her fate.

"JNPR's too." Ruby crossed her arms and Weiss and Blake both laughed quietly, trying to hide it from Yang but not really succeeding.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, yes the Vytal Festival is really honestly gonna happen, I promise the story will get there. Also though, that will pretty much be the end here because this story kind of follows with the canon (loosely, very loosely) and I am not going to deal with the fall. It's just not gonna happen here. Also, Boombox94, Allen Ramsey II, some things have happened that may answer some questions you posed before.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, please stay tuned for tomorrow's chapter and remember that I am taking a break next week so Tuesday will be the last postings until after anime expo.
> 
> -Zach


	28. Photo Shoot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Nora meet a familiar face...again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Nora leaned back on the small bench and tipped her large water bottle back, seemingly inhaling the water as she pulled hard on the mouthpiece to get it into her parched throat faster. Yang kept a lustful eye on her outstretched, toned body as it leaned back, covered in sweat and glistening under the lights in the sparring room. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed and Yang was having trouble keeping herself from tackling her and ravishing her right there in the middle of the room. She decided to turn away and spare herself the stimulation in order to save the rest of the room from a very obscene moment between the couple.

"You have got to get a control of yourself Yang," Nora spoke directly into her ear from behind and she felt a shiver of desire run up her spine.

"You have to stop being so damn sexy all the time," Yang tilted her head back and kissed Nora lightly on the cheek, just brushing her lips against her sweat stained skin.

"And if I don't?" Nora lowered her head and nibbled lightly on Yang's exposed collar bone eliciting a low, pleased moan from Yang.

"Then we will," another moan. "We will never get any training done." Yang pushed out with her legs and stood up and away from the obviously aroused redhead.

"But you expect me to just stay calm and collected with you in nothing but a sports bra and spandex?" Nora turned her face from that of a seductress to a pleading, innocent girlfriend. Yang looked down at Nora who was wearing exactly the same outfit.

"I think we maybe need some ground rules here." Yang smirked, "Or better, a contest."

"You wanna bet against me?" Nora sat back on the bench, her interest piqued.

"Yeah, whoever wins the next bout gets to start first when we get back to the dorm." Yang crossed her arms over chest and smiled smugly at Nora.

"Oh, oh that sounds like a great idea." Nora rolled off the bench to her feet. "Can we start right now?" They both looked over at the sparring ring and saw SSSN still going hard under the shielded dome. Yang was impressed by Blake's boyfriend. He used the most ludicrously complicated weapon she had seen in a long time, a pair of long handled nunchucks with shotguns imbedded in all four rods. He wielded them with brutal efficiency though, swinging and spinning and twirling them faster than her eyes could track, letting off blasts in rapid succession at whatever came near him. Boy was she glad they weren't in the same bracket until the singles rounds.

"I don't think so, we gotta wait for them to finish." Yang glanced up at the clock, the other team still had a few minutes before the timer buzzed. The sparring gym had become very popular in the days immediately before the Tournament and the staff had been forced to introduce a timer to keep teams from dominating the shielded sparring area for long periods of time.

"Uggghhh," Nora collapsed back onto the bench in a fit, "We gotta hurry though, everyone else is gonna be back soon and I'm so tired of being quiet." Yang laughed out loud at that, while true Nora hadn't been loud lately as they snuck around, she hadn't exactly been quiet either. Definitely not quiet enough to avoid a certain Faunus's ears.

"How about I tell you some juicy gossip to pass the time?" Yang squatted in front of Nora and put her hands on her own knees.

"If it's about Neptune being gay, I know Yang." Nora sighed and Yang laughed, looking over her shoulder at the blue haired boy. Everyone knew that about him.

"No, no, no. It's about Velvet and Coco." Yang said and Nora sprung out of her slouch, "Oh that's got your attention," Yang laughed out loud.

"Well yeah. Did something happen to them? I mean not that I want it to." Nora reigned in her excitement ever so slightly. "But did it?" The anticipation in her eyes was evident, like waiting in line for sweets.

"Maybe, I might have heard something." Yang stood and spun in a little circle, leading Nora on, "From someone that would definitely know." Nora grabbed Yang by the waist and pulled her backwards onto her lap. Yang landed with a giggle and swung her arm around Nora's shoulder, sitting in her lap sideways like a child. "Somebody named Coco."

"No?" Nora's face was a mix of shock and excitement and she dropped Yang to the ground. The blonde landed in a heap at her girlfriend's feet and laughed, Nora was so easily excited.

"Yep, she came over the other day while we were eating lunch and you were training with your team." Yang pulled herself up onto the bench and Nora turned excitedly to her. A series of booms went off in the training area and Yang turned her attention that way, "Oh look the fight is getting really intense."

"Yang," Nora grabbed both of her shoulders and turned her back so they were face to face, "You do not get to leave me hanging."

"Oh, you mean like nibbling on your shoulder while we're out in public?" Yang smirked and Nora's face fell into surprise.

"You're evil," Nora furrowed her eyebrows.

"I am not, I'm just getting even." Yang crossed her arms triumphantly and turned back to the fight. She watched for a second or two, happy she had gotten her revenge and then felt a hand firmly placed on her butt where it hung off the back of the small bench. She turned with a start to Nora who was also just watching the fight, her hand apparently acting all on it's own. Yang sighed, Nora was trying to get back at her but it wouldn't work, she returned her attention to the fight. Then the hand slid up her back, the fingers lightly grazing Yang's exposed skin and pushing at the hem of her sports bra. Yang turned back to Nora and found herself face to face with her redheaded lover. Before she could react Nora lunged forward and pressed her lips firmly against Yang's. Her free hand reached around Yang's head and pulled her in close while the one on her back made sure she couldn't pull away. Yang resisted at first, she knew exactly what Nora was doing but then she realized there was no point, she was gonna get all worked up either way so she let Nora take her and enjoyed it. They kissed for a moment, pressed into each other until Nora realized it wasn't doing what she wanted and pulled away, keeping her hands on Yang.

"Pleeeeease tell me what she said." Nora pleaded in a childish voice that just did not fit what they had been doing moments ago. Yang decided that performance at least deserved a little something.

"Well it's not really what she said as much as what she did," Nora pulled back from Yang and brought her knees to her chest, clenching her hands in excitement, "She," Yang laughed as she realized what she was about to say, "Coco hit on Weiss."

Nora gasped.

"Nooo," Nora's voice was much louder than she intended and she slapped both hands over her mouth.

"Yep, and you know Weiss threw a fit." Yang laughed as Nora kept her hands firmly over her mouth to prevent further outbursts. "She yelled at her and asked why in the world she was hitting on her if she was dating Velvet." Nora nodded her head, hands still over her mouth, "And Coco said they broke up a while ago." Nora screamed under her hands, the noise still clearly audible to Yang though it probably didn't carry very far.

"Oh my Oum," Nora dropped her hands once her scream stopped, "That's crazy. Do you know who dumped who?"

"We thought Coco must have dumped Velvet because she was already out trying to get at Weiss." Yang said and Nora nodded her head along in agreement.

"Uhh, how was Weiss about shooting her down?" Nora seemed to get nervous.

"She was pretty harsh about it, I think she said 'Absolutely not'. It was pretty rough but Coco took it fine, she's tough." Yang chuckled a little remembering Coco's next attempt to proposition her and decided that it was probably safer for Coco if she didn't tell Nora about that tidbit. She looked over at Nora and saw she still seemed a little put off. "You're not worried about Coco are you?"

"No, I'm worried about Ruby." the excitement in Nora's eyes died and her legs slumped to the floor on either side of the bench. "What if Weiss is that harsh with her too?"

"I don't think she will be, I mean yeah she's rough on the edges but Weiss is actually pretty cool and she's getting better." Yang put a hand on Nora's knee to comfort her a little.

"But, I've never seen her do rejection softly. I don't even know if she knows how Yang." Nora lifted her head and Yang could see she was really troubled by this. "It's a big deal for Ruby, only a couple of us even know she's a lesbian and that already freaked her out. If she comes out to Weiss and she turns her down, or what if she freaks out…?" Nora trailed off as she got herself even more concerned about the whole situation.

"Nora why didn't you say this the other day?" Yang rested her other hand on Nora's other leg and ran little circles on the inside of her knees with her thumb to try and calm her even slightly.

"You and Ren were being so supportive of her and she was already so freaked out. I know she has to try, she has to put herself out there. I just don't wanna see her get hurt Yang. I've been there and it really, really sucks." Nora leaned forward and put her head down on Yang's shoulder in exasperation. Yang moved one hand up to her back and rubbed gently.

"I know how Weiss seems. Oum, I didn't even like her until we all fought together at initiation." Yang lifted Nora's chin up so she could see her eyes, "But those two are so close. Even if Weiss is completely uninterested I know she won't say anything to hurt Ruby. I trust her." Yang gave Nora a light kiss on the lips, "But, you know. You really are the sweetest girlfriend ever. Worrying about _my_ sister like that." Yang laughed and Nora's frown eased.

"Okay, but if it all blows up then we have to be there for her." Nora gave Yang a very intense look in a way Yang wasn't used to.

"Yeah, of course we will. She's my sister after all." Yang laughed. Nora leaned forward and nuzzled her head into the crook of Yang's shoulder and Yang got a glance towards the other side of the gym and saw Velvet slowly approaching them, looking warily about her as she did. "Hey, we've got a visitor." Yang whispered and Nora pulled away to look behind her. The couple pulled apart slightly and returned to watching the fight until Velvet reached them.

"Uhh, hi, Nora, Yang." Velvet started uneasily.

"Oh hey Velvet." Nora turned to the girl and waved, she was still several yards away and if they hadn't been expecting her to come over they may not have even noticed she was there.

"What's up Velvet? You waiting to train too?" Yang looked over and noticed that Velvet was fully decked out for combat.

"Uhh, well, kind of," the girl shuffled her feet nervously despite the fact that she was a year ahead of the tow she was talking to, "Do you uhh, I don't know why you would, but do you know what my semblance is?"

"I've never even seen you fight," Yang laughed uneasily. She really hoped that Velvet hadn't overheard them talking about her and Coco, she knew how well Faunus could hear and this girl's ears were huge.

"I uhh, well," Velvet fiddled with the pouch on her hip and then pulled out a small old fashioned looking camera rather suddenly, "I watch other people fight and I can copy their movements exactly."

"Oh wow, that's, that's really incredible." Yang was actually taken back. Being able to mirror another Hunter's movements perfectly could be an incredibly powerful skill.

"How do you make that work if your weapon doesn't match though?" Nora cocked her head to one side and looked at Nora's camera, "What _is_ your weapon?"

"I don't actually have one," Velvet held up her camera with a hint of pride, "That's what this is for." She stepped over and showed them the screen on the back. As she scrolled Yang saw that all of her pictures contained the entirety of some other student's weapon. "If I take a picture, then this box," she tapped the box at her hip that she had removed the camera from, "draws on my aura to make a fake of the weapon for me to use."

"No way!" Nora jumped up from her seat and grabbed her hammer off the wall behind them, "Do mine, do mine." She held the hammer out in front of her with both hands. Velvet was startled by her sudden movements but recovered and readied herself to take a photo.

"Oh, uhh, okay. Please stand still." Velvet raised the camera and Yang leaned back instinctively to avoid being in the shot. Velvet snapped a photo, leaned the camera forward to check it and then tucked the camera back into the pouch slung from her hip.

"This is so exciting, there's gonna be two _Magnhilds_." Nora jittered with excitement. Velvet gave Nora a nervous smile and held her hands out in front of her, mimicking Nora's usual grip on the mighty war hammer. She closed her eyes to focus and the outline of _Magnhild_ began to form out of blue light in her hands. The lines of energy whipped about in the air faster and faster until the entirety of the hammer was replicated in a glowing blue construct in her hands. Velvet opened her eyes and exhaled slowly.

"Ta da," Velvet spun the hammer over the back of her hand and rested it on her shoulder just as Nora did after a successful battle.

"That's so weird to see," Yang stood and looked around the sides of the hammer, checking the little details she had become intimate with while she and Nora had been dating. Everything seemed to be in exactly the right place, a perfect copy.

"Ahhhh," Nora screamed in joy, "Oh that's the coolest thing ever. Can I hold it?"

"Umm, no not really." Velvet shrugged and released her grip on the hammer, it began to fall towards the ground but immediately dissipated into nothing. "I feed it my aura to keep it going so if I let go it, umm, well it vanishes." Nora's shoulders fell, much of her excitement vanishing as well.

"That's really awesome, but what's up? You didn't come over just to show us your semblance did you?" Yang asked, keeping her voice nice and cheery. She wasn't upset with Velvet at all, just curious what was up and still a little worried that she had overheard them talking about Coco and her breaking up.

"Oh well, I actually," Velvet winced as Neptune came smashing into the shield wall with a loud thunk and slid to the floor. It took her a moment to recover and continue speaking, "I wanted to know if I could watch you train and take pictures of your weapons?" Velvet tried to give them a confident smile but it was rather meek. "For uhh for the tournament. So I have more things to use." Yang was confused slightly by the innocence of the request, she could have done all of that without asking them and they never would have known.

"Yeah of course you can," Nora responded before Yang could recover herself.

"Oh thank you," the Faunus girl clasped her hands together and nodded her head excitedly, "You're both so strong, it will really help." A genuine smile filled her cheeks.

There was a loud noise of a power unit disengaging and the shield wall evaporated away.

"Woooo yeah! I win." The three girls turned and saw Sun dancing in the middle of the sparring arena and cheering for himself, "That means you guys are on laundry duty and I get to go see Blake." He put both thumbs in his ears and made farting noises at the other members of his team and then went running for the exit. They all groaned and slowly made their way towards the lockers.

"Alright, you're up." Neptune jerked a thumb back over his shoulder towards the now empty sparring ring as he and the rest of his team made their way past Yang, Nora and Velvet.

"Yes, finally" Nora jumped clear over the dividing wall to the center of the ring and started swinging her hammer around in wide arcs, a habit she said was to make sure it could still hit stuff.

"You've got pretty good timing," Yang laughed and gave Velvet a smile before jumping into the ring. There was a loud, computerized buzz and the shield raised back into place. Yang and Nora ran at each other as soon as the buzzer sounded and their duel was on.

They traded blows fairly evenly, knocking each other back and forth around the ring with their hellacious strength. The flashing of Velvet's camera seemed to accent their more climatic clashes but it didn't distract either of them from the battle, it was nearly as bright as the flashes from Yang's _Ember Celica_. In the end Yang was able to knock Nora's aura below the acceptable limits by setting up a nasty combo inside the range of her hammer. The shield wall fell and they made their way back to Velvet.

"Ohh yeah, that was great." Yang cheered as they exited.

"It's just cause I can't send you flying in there. You just hit the shield wall." Nora moaned.

"You know hitting that shield hurts just as bad as hitting the ground." Yang threw an arm over Nora's shoulder and kissed her cheek just as they reached Velvet who made a nervous little cough at their show of affection.

"Thank you, so much for letting me watch." Velvet held up her camera proudly, "I got a lot of really good shots."

"No problem Velvet." Nora smiled cheerfully, over her brief mood from having lost the match to her girlfriend.

"Think of it as an apology for the other day." Yang moved over to the bench and grabbed her and Nora's waters.

"For what?" Velvet looked honestly curious.

"For making out in the hallway." Nora caught her water bottle out of the air when Yang tossed it and hurriedly began drinking. Velvet blushed at the mention of when she caught them and looked at her feet.

"Oh, uhh, no I'm sorry about that." She wiggled her feet back and forth nervously.

"Seriously, you didn't do anything." Yang moved forward and put a hand on Velvet's arm comfortingly. Velvet shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh.

"I guess I thought I was getting better but I still miss her a little." Velvet said quietly, almost too quietly for Yang and Nora to hear.

"You mean Coco?" Nora asked gently. Velvet's head jerked up in surprise, as if she thought they hadn't heard her at all and then she just sighed again.

"Yeah." Velvet turned and sat on the bench with a small huff.

"You wanna talk about it?" Yang sat on the bench next to her at a respectful distance.

"There's not a lot really. I dumped her about a month ago now. I just need to move forward I guess." She looked back and forth between the couple, "I'm sorry I shouldn't be bothering you with my problems." She got up to leave but Nora stopped her.

"You're not bothering us Velvet." Nora had the same compassion in her voice from the other day with Ruby. "We're totally here if you need to talk about it."

"I just," Velvet's voice faltered slightly, "I felt like she only wanted me for, uhhh" she stopped completely and her cheeks went beet red. "Umm, you know." She didn't meet their gaze. Yang and Nora sat their for a moment, waiting for Velvet to continue and then her implied point hit them both at the same time.

"Ohhh," they moaned together.

"Wow, Velvet I'm so sorry." Nora moved to sit by her on the bench as well.

"Yeah, I mean we knew Coco was all over you. But you really felt that way?" Yang asked.

"Well," Velvet sighed again, "I didn't want to. So I brought it up to her and she didn't say no. She just went on and on about how dangerous our lives are and how there's no time to get all emotional."

"That's so terrible." Nora leaned in and hugged Velvet without warning causing her to jump slightly at the contact. After a moment Nora pulled away and Velvet seemed to have brightened up.

"I'm glad you did something about it though." Yang tried to reassure her.

"I had to," the brunette took a deep breath and steadied herself, "And now I have to move on. I have to show her I can if nothing else."

"Yeah," Yang and Nora both cheered her on. They were doing that more and mora lately Yang noticed, responding as one. Regardless, their energy seemed to help Velvet brighten even further.

"And there's a lot of other cute girls at Beacon and some cute boys too." Velvet smiled and looked around the gym at all the people.

"Wow Velvet." Yang was stunned, "I didn't know you were that open." Velvet blushed again, but remained happy.

"Well, I just, if I like someone, I like someone. It doesn't really matter to me what else is going on." She looked at Yang, the smile and blush still both present on her face.

"That's awesome," Nora clapped her on the back, "I'm glad you're ready to move forward." Velvet stood and turned around to face them.

"Thank you so much for helping me." she patted her camera case, "With everything." she bowed her head just slightly and went trotting off into the gym, much more skip in her step than when she came.

"So," Yang leaned over to Nora, "You know we still have a bet t settle?"

"Oh do I." Nora turned on Yang with a mischievous grin. "I just hope we can finish before Jaune gets back."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo day two of the weekend double feature and more on the degradation of Crosshares. I like them as a ship but I thought this was an interesting way to deal with them. What did you think? Also, you know what this all means right? And yes, Allen Ramsey II (as well as others) I did have to pick up the phone because you did in fact call that.
> 
> I hope you liked it. There will be one more chapter on Tuesday before I take my little break for Anime Expo. I might have some time to write and post during that break, but I won't be updating this story or "Friends and Loved Ones". If I do post anything it will just be little one shots and maybe a string of anti-Cardin stories just to get some of that out of my system.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading.
> 
> -Zach


	29. Never Miss a Beat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.
> 
> \- Okay I had to make a change to this chapter. This is the sort of thing that I hate doing and it's why I usually finish a story completely before letting anyone read any of it. So Yang had said "You need to be ready for my fight tomorrow" or something along those lines and then later I said the fight would be a few days later. The latter is correct and so I have changed Yang's dialogue to match that. Sorry about such a major change. I make lots of grammar and spelling changes without saying anything all the time but this is a totally different line.

The crowd roared in the massive stadium, cheers and screams resounding off of the towering sides and creating a tumult of noise in the arena below. Yang turned to Weiss and flashed her a smile. Team RWBY had one the full team rounds and it was their turn to go two versus two with a random team who just happened to be from Atlas, Weiss's home kingdom.

"Well, seeing as their Kingdom, academy and armed forces are all merged as one, I think we can expect strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies." Weiss droned on. Yang felt the witty comment as it moved from her brains to her lips but was cut off by a figure whizzing by them, shooting a rainbow behind her as she went. This was going to be an interesting fight to be sure.

The buzzer sounded and Yang was immediately accosted by the rainbow girl, a cat Faunus on roller skates with a glowing pair of dust chucks. The boy with the trumpet went after Weiss and seemed to be holding her down, not letting her even start to fight. This was bad, it was exactly the opposite of how they had planned to fight a team like this. Weiss was supposed to fight the fast nimble one and Yang was supposed to pummel trumpet boy. She glanced over at Weiss to see how she was doing and saw her using glyphs to press forward through a wind stream coming from the trumpet. Then Yang felt her leg go numb and looked down to find it encased in ice.

"Hm-hmm! Look! Now you're bottom-heavy, too!" the Faunus girl smacked her butt, mocking Yang. That was absolutely it, Yang bellowed in fury, shattering the ice on her leg with a pulse of her flaming aura and charged after the little minx on wheels. She chased and chased but couldn't land a significant blow on her until she heard Weiss scream out her name. Yang spun, ready to face an oncoming attack just in time to see Weiss tackle the boy with the trumpet into a vent of hot steam the stage was emitting as part of the lava simulation. Seeing her hair vanish into the cloud and hearing the sound of Professor Port's voice announce that she had been pushed far below the safety limits on her aura drove Yang over the edge. Red filled her eyes and Yang felt her aura flood through her body, pulsing in every limb. They didn't stand a chance.

First she took out the boy with the trumpet because he had hurt Weiss and his aura was already so much lower from Weiss's attack. Then Yang turned her unbridled fury on the devil of a girl and attacked and attacked until the buzzer sounded the end of the match. Yang looked around, ensuring the fight was indeed over and then took a deep steadying breath to calm herself. She cooled her aura through force of will and brought herself back under control.

"Weiss!" Ruby screamed from the stands and came bolting onto the stage, rose petals flying behind her in a vortex of speed. Ruby slid to Weiss's side and had her scooped up in her arms before Yang could even make it over. Blake came running in behind Ruby but couldn't hope to match the shorter girl's frantic pace."Weiss are you okay?" Ruby gingerly pulled a loose strand of hair back behind Weiss's ear and waited anxiously for a response from the soot covered girl.

There were several coughs and Weiss's eyes fluttered unsteadily open.

"Oh hey Ruby. When did you get here?" Weiss moaned out uneasily.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, still absolutely distraught.

"I don't think I'll be singing for a while." Weiss tried to laugh but it came out just as a moan of pain and caused her to clutch her side. Yang laughed as well, hoping Ruby would see that Weiss was going to be okay. Blake finally caught up and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Weiss awake and speaking.

"You did well Yang. You saved the match." Blake turned to her partner once she was sure Weiss was fine.

"Oh that was nothing. Just needed Weissy out of the way so I could really open up." Yang pounded her fists together, still wearing her Ember Celica.

"Well I guess we know who to send to the singles round." Blake laughed and it dawned on Yang what she meant. They had won, she was headed to the finals. As a freshman Yang was headed to the final rounds of the Vytal Festival. The idea stunned her into a shocked silence.

"Hey winner. Time to talk to a fan?" Nora's voice rang out from the edge of the seating area. She wasn't a member of either competing team and so couldn't come out onto the floor.

"It appears Ms. Schnee is okay. Maybe a little dirtier than she likes, but she'll be okay." Professor Port's voice rang out.

"Thank goodness. These matches are just friendly sparring rounds. No one is meant to be hurt." Dr. Oobleck's voice came out, as recognizable as ever, over the loudspeakers, "And now, it's time to continue. Contestants please make room for the next match."

Yang glanced to back to her team and saw Blake and Ruby helping Weiss up from the ground.

"Have you guys got her?" Yang looked more to Blake than Ruby. She knew Ruby would stick by Weiss's side but needed to make sure Blake felt they could handle it.

"Yeah we've got her Yang." Blake responded in kind, giving Yang a knowing smile and a little nod of her head. Yang walked over and brought her head down to the still exhausted and injured Weiss.

"Hey Snow Flake. You did good out there." Yang gave Weiss a bright smile and the girl just grimaced at her.

"Yeah yeah, that's enough from you. Go celebrate with Nora already." Weiss's words held a playful tone and Yang knew she was happy they had won.

"You rest up, I need you all ready to go to watch my next fight." Yang then did something she thought she would probably never have the chance to do again and patted Weiss gently on the head. She flashed her another smile and went lopping off towards Nora, "You two take care of her. She's really fragile." Weiss looked as if she wanted to lash out but was in no condition to do so.

"Oh my Oum I didn't think you'd actually come over." Nora was bouncing with excitement when Yang reached her.

"Of course, I've always got time to meet with an adoring fan. Especially one as attractive as yourself." Yang leapt up to the railing and vaulted over the side to stand next to Nora. Nora grabbed her hands in hers.

"I know this is really sudden but would you let me take you out for some food. To, uhh, celebrate your victory." Nora tried her best to act embarrassed about asking but snickered the entire time.

"That sounds great." Yang leaned forward and gave Nora a deep kiss, "Then maybe I can take you somewhere." Yang winked at Nora and then drug her off by her hand towards the exit.

Yang was struggling, one hand was wrapped around Nora's back, keeping her close as their tongues danced together in her mouth. The other was behind her, trying desperately to open the door. She finally managed to twist the handle off to the side and let the door swing open, granting them access to team RWBY's dorm room. Nora pushed her towards her bed with a hungry look in her eyes and Yang turned to climb onto the top bunk but was stopped by two firm hands around her waist.

"We really will knock your bed down," Nora whispered in her ear, hips pressed against Yang's rear. She could feel the warmth coming off Nora and didn't feel the need to argue. She twisted back grabbing her redheaded lover and threw her across Blake's bed, she bounced and rolled falling on the floor on the other side, giggling the whole way. Yang laughed to herself. She had meant for Nora to stay on the bed but had apparently thrown her just a tad too hard. She crawled across the mattress and peered over the edge at the space between the mattress and the wall. Lying there was an impressively naked Nora. How had she gotten her shirt off that fast? She was smiling up at Yang and was obviously ready to be devoured. Yang lurched forward and over the edge, letting her hands come down on either side of Nora's chest and trapping her hips between her strong legs.

"I think we might really like the floor." Yang leaned down and pressed a kiss to Nora's lips, "It's kind of exciting down here."

"You're wearing too many clothes and talking too much." Nora reached up and pulled Yang down to her, wrapping her arms around her back and pushing her tongue into her mouth.

The door clicked and Yang bolted up to a sitting position. She saw the door swinging slowly open and looked around her in haste. She and Nora were both completely naked and still lying on the floor between Blake's bed and the wall of their room. She ducked back down and slapped her hand over Nora's mouth as quickly as she could. Nora woke up as well and Yang looked down at her. She felt Nora's tongue push lightly at her palm and her hand moved up to slowly caress Yang's side. Yang lifted her finger to her lips and silently shushed Nora, shaking her head no. Nora stopped and widened her eyes in question but Yang just jerked her thumb over her shoulder and leaned closer to the floor.

"Alright, easy does it, just a couple more steps, here we go Weiss." Yang could hear Ruby's voice, strained slightly from the effort of apparently helping Weiss into the room.

"Thank you Ruby," Weiss said quietly, "I guess I was a little more injured than I thought."

"Just gonna put you down on the bed now, here we go." There was a quiet thump and Yang assumed Ruby had deposited Weiss on her bed.

"Oh oww, Ruby." Weiss hissed in pain and annoyance.

"Sorry, sorry, I slipped a little," Ruby's voice was frantic and full of concern, "Oh sorry. I wish we had a wheel chair, this would have been soo much easier." There was a hint of sarcasm in the last sentence.

"No. I am not injured badly enough that I can't walk on my own two feet." Weiss tried to maintain the usual pride to her voice but the pain she was feeling was still evident.

"Oh okay," Ruby said jokingly, "I guess I'll just leave you here then since you're all good to go."

"Wait Ruby please." Weiss called out and Yang swore she could hear Ruby's boots turn in the carpet as she undoubtedly spun on her toes to face her injured partner. "I just didn't want people to think I was very hurt, you know, if they saw me in a wheelchair." There was the unmistakable noise of Weiss blowing her hair out of her face in a huff, "Just because I had to save your big oaf of a sister too."

Yang had to hold herself back from leaping over the bed and giving Weiss what for. It really helped her self-control that she was completely nude and didn't feel like exposing herself to her sister and Weiss right now, or explaining why she and Nora were naked on the floor and had remained in hiding this entire time.

"Well then don't complain," the mattress squeaked as Ruby sat down gently on Weiss's bed.

"Thank you Ruby. For taking care of me." Weiss's voice grew a little quieter.

"Ohh," Ruby laughed nervously and spoke overly loud, "Of course, yeah, that's what partners are for right?" Another nervous laugh and then the room fell into an awkward silence, because of course huddling naked on the ground with your girlfriend and overhearing your sister talk nervously talk to her crush wasn't awkward enough. A few moments passed in silence.

"Do you need anything? Like some water or food? Maybe a book?" Ruby finally broke the silence as carefully as she could, slowly picking at it with tiny, innocent questions, "I'm not bringing you your homework though. I refuse."

"But Ruby, I can't fall behind," Weiss whined sarcastically.

"Nope, leader's orders. You have to rest and enjoy yourself." Yang could hear the pleasure and happiness dripping from Ruby's voice. She really was happy when she spent time like this with Weiss. "Ooooh, maybe we could watch a movie." she offered excitedly.

"Actually, I think rest sounds good." Weiss said sleepily, "Would you sit with me though? Until I fall asleep."

"Yeah of course Weiss." Ruby said cheerfully, not bummed in the slightest that they wouldn't be watching a movie together.

"Alright, grab her hand right now Ruby," Yang thought to herself and noticed she was nervously squeezing Nora's hand and still had the other over her mouth. Nora gave her a reassuring smile, Yang could tell because her cheeks dimpled up under Yang's hand and her eye's got that little twinkle to them they got whenever she was really happy. "Oh come one Ruby, tell her right now. I know we have the plan but this is so much better."

More silence passed and then Yang could hear Weiss gently snoring. She must really be tired, she almost never snored on normal nights. She decided it was worth the risk to peek up over the edge of the bed and see what exactly was going on. As slowly as she could Yang slid her knee forward to try and get it under her so she could lift herself up slowly. She felt her knee brush something soft and Nora squeaked quietly into her palm. Yang looked down and to her horror saw she had unwittingly pushed her knee right up between Nora's legs. Yang lfound Nora's eyes and tried to silently apologize to her girlfriend for rubbing her the wrong way, or possibly the right way. Both were bad given the situation. Yang picked her hand up off Nora's mouth and rested it on the ground next to her so that she could lift herself up and peered over the bed.

Ruby was sitting just on the edge of Weiss's bed with her feet protruding out into the room but her head was pointed directly at Weiss, watching lovingly as the platinum haired girl slept peacefully. Ruby reached forward and pushed some stray hair off of Weiss's face towards her ear and smiled when Weiss sleepily nuzzled against her hand for a brief second. Then a very warm sensation pulled Yang's attention back down and she saw Nora kissing her right butt cheek gently where it was hovering just above Nora's chest. Yang bent slowly back down and put herself completely on the ground by Nora. She rolled the little redhead on her side and spooned herself up against her. If Ruby was just going to watch Weiss sleep then they might as well go back to sleep too. The carpet down here was surprisingly comfortable when she was cuddling Nora.

Nora snuggled back into Yang, rubbing her butt gently against Yang's waist and pulled Yang's arm forward under her head to use as a pillow and then closed her eyes. Yang took a long, slow, relaxing breath and felt herself starting to doze back off when Ruby started quietly talking.

"Weiss, are you awake?" she whispered, barely audible to Yang, "There's something I want to tell you but I don't know if I can just say it to your face." Yang sat motionless and tried to quiet her breathing so she could make out Ruby's words more easily. "I'm so scared Weiss. I don't want anything to change between us but I want everything to change for us." Ruby's voice cracked slightly, "I don't know what to do. I like you, I like you so much. Maybe I love you. This is so new for me. I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm just so scared." Her voice cracked further and Yang didn't have to see to know that her little sister was on the verge of crying. Ruby sniffled hard and continued, "I really like you Weiss and I want to be more than just a friend and a partner and a leader for you. I don't know how though." Yang heard soft sobs come from Ruby and felt her own breath hitch just slightly in her throat.

She tried to catch it but couldn't stop the noise from escaping. Instead it came out as a small cough. The sobbing noise stopped and Yang waited, hoping Ruby would ignore it and not question the noise or its source. Ruby sniffled loudly and then called out.

"Yang? Blake? Are you there?" Ruby stood from the bed and Yang heard her soft feet patter over, accompanied by more sniffling.

"Wait Ruby," Yang tried to sound sleepy, as if she had just woken up, "Don't uhh don't come over here."

"Why?" the feet stopped despite her question.

"Nora and me are back here and we aren't really umm...:" Yang trailed off, hoping her sister would get her meaning without her having to say it outright.

"We're kinda naked Ruby." Nora moaned out, much better at the sleepy voice than Yang. Had she actually fallen asleep that quickly?

"Oh," Yang could almost hear the blush in Ruby's hurried response. "Uhh what are or umm were you two doing back there?"

"Well Ruby, when a girl and a girl like each other very much-" Nora went silent with a giggle after a sharp elbow from Yang.

"We fell asleep down here after, well you know." Yang gave Nora as dirty of a look as she could muster despite her intense desire to laugh out loud at her antics, "Did you bring Weiss back? Is she okay?"

"Yeah she's asleep now," Ruby said, regaining some of her calm. It seemed like Ruby had believed her that they were asleep until that moment.

"Can you uhh, like turn around or something so we can get dressed real quick?" Yang called out, wanting to end this awkwardness as quickly as possible.

"Oh yeah, yup." Then Ruby was silent.

"Did you turn around?" Yang was hesitant to even risk letting her little sister see not only her, but Nora naked.

"Yeah, sorry." Ruby laughed more easily now, "You're good." Yang stood and leant a hand to Nora to help her up as well. They gathered their clothes off of the floor where they had been lying and began redressing. They both slid their panties and shorts on first and then started to fuss with their bras.

"Yang," Nora turned her back to the blonde, "Wanna help me?" Yang turned and saw the back of Nora's bra hanging loose and so dropped hers to help Nora attach the straps. She obviously didn't need help putting it on, but it was still nice to sort of do this together. They had helped each other take it all off after all.

"Hey Ruby," Weiss slowly sat up, rubbing at her eyes, "I kinda have to pee-eee Oh My Oum!" Weiss's sleepy voice quickly grew into a startled scream as she sat up and saw Yang and Nora still basically naked on the other side of the room. She quickly threw her hands over her eyes and Yang spun around so her breasts were hidden.

"Good morning sleepy head." Nora called out, "You did really well in today's match."

"Why are you two naked? Ruby, what's going on?" Weiss was still basically screaming.

"They were kind of asleep in here before we got here and they were already naked because, well because they're dating and that's the kind of thing they're doing now that they've been dating a long time. So-" Ruby began to ramble and Yang cut her off.

"I think she gets it Rubes." Yang quickly slipped on her bra, and now that they were in a hurry she and Nora finished getting dressed in just a few seconds. "Okay we're good to go, totally decent now."

"You are never decent at all." Weiss threw across the room as she removed her hands from her eyes. "Neither of you." she shot Yang and Nora one of her trademark glares.

"Oh, stop being so iceschnee and let Ruby help you to the bathroom." Yang laughed and Weiss crossed her arms in an embarrassed huff, "I mean I could help you out, but I figure you need help with more than the walking right?" Now both Weiss and Ruby blushed hard and Weiss scoffed as indignantly as she could muster.

"I am very capable of handling myself in the restroom thank you very much." Weiss huffed again and swung her legs slowly out of the bed and to the floor. Gingerly she eased herself to her feet and tried to take a step forward and then another and another towards the bathroom only to collapse back towards the bed on the fourth step. Ruby jerked forward and caught Weiss up to support her and walked her the rest of the way into the bathroom amid loud snickering and giggles from Yang and Nora.

Ruby re-emerged from the bathroom Schnee-less, closed the door for Weiss and sat down on the side of the bed.

"You two are so mean to her." Ruby pouted.

"That wasn't that bad Ruby. She's the one who screamed at my boobs like they were some sort of monster." Yang crawled across Blake's bed to the other side.

"Well they are monstrous." Nora swooped in behind Yang and wrapped her arms around her middle.

"Eww Nora please stop. You guys were just naked on the floor."Ruby closed her eyes and stamped her feet and then she stopped very suddenly, "You guys better clean the floor!" The little brunette leader got very upset, losing her embarrassment in her frustration with the couple. Yang and Nora began laughing, resigned to their fate and only stopped when a loud bang came from the bathroom.

"Ruubyyy," Weiss called out, "I neeeed help." Yang and Nora's laughter began anew.

"We'll leave you two to it then." Yang said as they stood.

"Don't get too handsy with her now Ruby. She's very sheltered." Nora slid off the bed behind Yang. Ruby's blush returned in full force and she threw her hood up over her head.

"You can't take advantage of her just because she's injured." Yang pulled Nora over towards the door.

"Please leave." Ruby yelled out and made her way to the bathroom, navigating mostly successfully with her hood pulled down over her face.

Yang gave Nora one last kiss and pulled away. She had to go back to her dorm room now. Tomorrow was the rest of the two versus two fights, then they all got a day off and then the singles rounds started. It was already late and she needed as much sleep and rest as she could get going into the singles rounds. Once they started she would have to fight three rounds basically in a row in order to win the tournament and she needed to be rested and ready for that. Especially since odds were that she would have to fight Pyrrha at some point during the last stage of the tournament.

"Don't give them too hard of a time." Nora whispered to Yang.

"I'll play nice I promise," Yang gave Nora's hands a reassuring squeeze, "I bet they're asleep by now anyway."

"Alright," Nora leaned forward and gave Yang a light peck on the cheek "You were awesome today, I love you."

"Aww come on. You were awesome too, you even did most of the work." Yang pushed at Nora's shoulder playfully and the redhead blushed slightly but didn't shy away.

"I was talking about the fight, but thank you." Nora took a step backwards towards her dorm.

"I love you too. I'll see you in the morning." Yang blew her a final kiss and turned to her door. They both opened their doors and entered practically simultaneously. It was so strange living across the hall from her girlfriend.

Yang entered Team RWBY's dorm and quickly glanced around the room. Blake was curled up in her bed asleep and Weiss was sitting up in her bed, staring at the wall on the far side of the room. Ruby was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Weiss, you okay there." Yang asked quietly, not wanting to wake Blake. Weiss didn't respond. "Yoohoo Remnant to Weiss," Yang said a bit louder and waved her hand between Weiss's bed and the apparently very interesting wall. Weiss shook her head with a shudder and turned slowly to meet Yang's violet eyes.

"Yang I think I messed up." Weiss's voice was quiet, but not to avoid waking Blake. It was as if she didn't want to speak because it would make what she had to say true.

"What? In the fight today?" Yang began but Weiss interrupted.

"No Yang with Ruby…" Weiss trailed off but Yang knew exactly what she meant.

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know. She ran out and I can't even walk. I-" Weiss kept going but Yang was gone. She ran out into the hallway and pulled out her scroll as she ran, making her way outside to start looking for Ruby. She called Ruby's scroll and it went straight to voicemail. Yang tore outside and looked back and forth, desperate for some indication of which way she had gone, a trail of rose petals, cookie crumbs, something so she could find her. There was nothing. Yang couldn't believe this, what in Oum's name had happened? She sat heavily on a nearby bench and threw her head back, restraining a frustrated scream. Yang tried to think, where could Ruby have gone to try and collect herself? Summer's grave was way too far, she obviously wasn't in the dorm room, the library was closed by now. Where could she be? Yang groaned and put her hands over her eyes, trying to think clearly. She slowly pulled her hands away from her eyes and lowered her gaze when something caught her eye. Up on the roof of the dorm, a bright red blotch. Yang didn't even hesitate and ran back inside, pounding up the stairs all the way to the top floor and emerging out onto the roof from the small access room.

"Ruby?" Yang's question was only met by gentle sobbing. She ran over to her sister and fell on the ground next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Ruby, I'm so sorry." Ruby huddled into Yang and pulled at her shirt, burying herself in her sister until it looked like Yang was hugging nothing more than a large red blanket to her chest. Yang sat there for a long while, clutching Ruby to her chest and rubbing her back, trying to soothe the sadness out of her until her soft crying faded and she pulled away just slightly so Yang could see her face again.

"I was so stupid Yang," Ruby's voice was hoarse. "I just thought that because I liked her so much she must like me back. I thought that's how it was supposed to work." Yang pulled Ruby back to her and cooed softly to try and calm her further.

"It isn't always that way Rubes. I wish it was but it isn't."

"She doesn't even like girls Yang." Ruby nearly screamed, "How could I be so dumb, she doesn't even like girls. She probably thinks I'm a freak now."

"No." Yang pulled her sister away so she could make eye contact. The sternness in her voice surprised Ruby and she hiccuped in shock. "You are not a freak Ruby. Don't ever think that about yourself." she hugged Ruby back to her, "And I know Weiss doesn't think that either."

"But she knows I'm all obsessed with her now and she's not gonna wanna be partners anymore. I'm supposed to be the leader Yang, the one in charge." Ruby's shoulders shook with another sob. "I'm so dumb, I ruined everything."

"You didn't ruin anything Ruby and stop calling yourself dumb." Yang eased Ruby's hood off and wiped at her eyes lovingly. "Now, can you tell me what actually happened? I thought you were gonna wait to tell her?" Ruby slid off of Yang's lap to the ground by her side.

"I was gonna wait and I didn't tell her on purpose." Ruby sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the hem of her cloak, "When I brought her in and you and Nora were asleep. I thought she was asleep too and so I started talking to her, or to myself I guess. I talked about how I liked her and how scared I was and I said so much." Ruby interrupted herself with another sob, "I guess she wasn't actually asleep and she heard it all. She wasn't gonna say anything about it but we were alone in the room together and she said it just sort of bubbled up inside her and she felt like she had to tell me she knew."

"Oh Rubes," Yang rubbed her back, "Was she really mean about it? You know that's just how Weiss is right? She's mean to everyone."

"No she wasn't mean." Ruby started in surprise, trying to dispel Yang's misassumption, "She started out just talking about boys and what she likes. I guess she was trying to hint to me that she didn't like girls but I didn't get it because I was being so dumb." Yang reminded her to stop calling herself dumb and then let her continue, "Then she just told me she knew how I felt about her and that she had heard me before. That's when I started crying because it all like clicked in my head. I was so embarrassed crying in front of her like a baby."

"Don't be embarrassed about that Ruby. Nora and I cry with each other all the time. Over silly stuff and serious stuff. It's totally normal." Yang put an arm over Ruby's shoulder and tried to pull her close.

"She freaked out and tried to come over to me but she fell because she's still hurt and I felt really, really bad. I helped her back into bed and then she told me she still wanted to be my partner and that it shouldn't change anything and all this stuff but I know she was just being nice." Ruby pulled away from Yang and turned her back slightly, "I know she doesn't want to ruin the team and so she's just being nice."

"Is Weiss ever nice just because Ruby?" Yang forcibly turned her back around, "Think about it, she never lies to protect someone's feelings no matter who they are. If she said all that then she means it and if she means all that then she really does care about you, just not the same way you care about her." Yang reached forward and grabbed Ruby's hands.

"But I can't just go back to normal Yang. I can't forget how I feel about her." Ruby was upset now, anguish screaming out from behind her tear stained silver eyes.

"No, you can't." Yang squeezed her hands to get her to stop so she could talk, "Did you know that for a long time Ren really really liked Nora? But you know, Nora likes girls not boys so it wouldn't work for them." The fire behind Ruby's eyes calmed a little, "But look at them now, Ren stuck through it and was just there for her as a friend and now they're like brother and sister, totally inseparable. It still makes me kinda jealous sometimes." Yang laughed to herself, it always felt so silly but every once and awhile there was a little pang of jealousy when Nora would 'boop' Ren. She knew she should be over that, that she shouldn't care because they really were like siblings but she couldn't help how she felt.

"Really?" Ruby asked incredulously, not quite believing Yang.

"Yeah, they told me about it one night when I asked how they met." Yang pulled Ruby across the rooftop back over to her side. "You really care about Weiss and she really cares about you. It's a little different, but, you both want to be their for each other. So why shouldn't you be? Just because you can't date doesn't mean you can't be friends. Look at how long Pyrrha was Jaune's friend when she thought she had no chance because he was chasing after Weiss." Ruby sniffled again and looked up at the moon.

"It's gonna be so hard though Yang. All I can think about when I'm around her is how much I like her." Ruby turned to her sister, sadness pooling in her eyes once more.

"You just have to keep moving forward though Rubes." Yang leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, "And I'll be with you every step of the way." Ruby leaned into Yang but didn't cry.

"Can we stay here a little bit longer?"

"Of course we can Rubes. As long as you need to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Uhh, please don't hate me. Following the themes in this piece, this is what had to happen here. If you don't like it, tell me so but please say why. I would explain my authorial choices here but it would be rather lengthy. All in all, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I made this one extra long because this is the last update until July 7 when I return from Anime Expo in LA. I may post some little one-shots in the meantime, but I wouldn't count on it. The shows can get pretty crazy and I don't have a ton of free time.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, please let me know what you thought.
> 
> -Zach


	30. Faunus Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The Sun had just started to dip below the horizon as Yang and Nora exited the stadium and boarded one of the many airbuses headed back to Beacon.

"Whhooo!" Nora whooped as they found their seats, "That was awesome!"

"Yeah I had no idea the other academies had huntsmen like that." Yang draped her arm across Nora's shoulders as she eased back into the bench.

"That one guy with the robot thing on his eye? What even was that? Do you think Ruby knows?" Nora was reaching a level of excitement Yang was only used to seeing from her younger sister.

"Oh I'm sure she does. You can ask her when we get back to the dorm. I just know she's in there talking Weiss and Blake's ear off about it." Yang laughed at the thought of the little brunette talking a million words a minute and Blake and Weiss desperately trying to catch even a word of it.

"Oh man, I'm really worried for Pyrrha. I don't think she's ever lost. I hope she isn't over confident about this." Nora turned an admittedly worried face to Yang.

"Nah she'll be fine. I mean this is Pyrrha we're talking about." Yang brushed the comment aside, "She's the invincible girl right? No way she loses to some Vacuo chump, and she's already the champ of Mistral." Yang laughed boisterously, "I'm gonna be the one to take her out."

Nora giggled.

"What?" Yang's pride filled smile faded

"You're gonna beat Pyrrha? Okay." Nora laughed again, much louder this time.

"You don't think I can take her out?" Yang crossed her arms indignantly, "Her semblance isn't that great." Nora's face dropped in shock.

"You know what her semblance is?" Nora asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah. Ruby figured it out a long time ago and told us all about it. She controls metal and stuff. No big deal. The only part of me that's gonna touch her is my fists on her face." Yang kicked her head back, letting her luscious blonde hair flow out behind her and laughed loud and confident, drawing the attention of several other passengers on the ship.

"Well I hope you do win," Nora cuddled into her side and wrapped her arms lovingly around Yang's waist, "I don't know if I could date a loser." Yang pulled back but Nora stayed clamped firmly around her waist and refused to let go. She finally resigned to her fate and dropped her arm back around Nora's shoulders.

"I guess I better win then huh?" they both laughed and then settled in to just cuddle very modestly during the short flight down. The airship swung to a stop at the front cliff of Beacon lending the passengers a beautiful view of Vale at night, the stadium hanging silently in the sky above it, glowing with an iridescent, magical energy.

Yang and Nora untangled themselves from each other and made their way to the exit hand in hand. They emerged into the crisp night with a little gasp, pulling the refreshing air into their lungs after being trapped in the airship.

"I still really hate those things." Nora released Yang's hand and spun in a circle, hands down at her sides and a smile from ear to ear. She stopped when she was facing Yang and leaned in for a dizzy kiss, "I love you though." Yang returned the kiss and the other exiting passengers moved around the couple to where ever they were headed.

"I love you too, you silly, beautiful little firecracker." Yang kissed her again on the forehead and Nora giggled furiously and buried her face into Yang's shoulder to hide her bright red cheeks. Yang pulled her into the tight hug and then released her with a start. "Hey, is that Velvet?"

Yang strained her eyes against the growing darkness across the massive courtyard and tried to make out the person on the other side. Nora pulled out of the hug and spun around to look as well.

"I think so." Nora put her hand above her eyes as if to shield them from the Sun, which was now completely beneath the horizon. "Is she taking pictures?" They could both see what was definitely a rabbit Faunus, turned towards the city and holding something to her face. "Let's go say hi."

"Okay yeah," Yang responded cheerfully. They grabbed each other's hands again and went off towards the girl at a light jog. As they drew closer Yang could see that it was indeed Velvet and she was taking pictures. They slowed their pace without a word and creeped up behind her, stealthily approaching the girl who was so intent upon her task.

"Hey Velvet, Whatcha doin'?" Nora asked in an overly loud voice, although quite normal from her, once they were just a few feet behind her. Velvet screamed out in shock and would have dropped her camera if not for the safety harness around her wrist.

"Oh hey Nora, Yang." Velvet grabbed the camera with her other hand and held it down at her waist, aimed at the ground, "Sorry I was a little focused." Nora craned her head around and looked at the viewfinder on Velvet's camera to see what she had just taken a photo of. Captured there, in wonderfully defined picture was Ren. He was sitting at the edge of the cliff near a bench that overlooked the city. He was illuminated slightly by the light from the stadium's propulsion system and the city lights below.

"How did you get it to be that bright? That's really really pretty Velvet. Wait, you actually take photos for fun too? Why did you take one of Ren?" Nora looked between her partner still at the cliff's edge, Velvet's camera and Velvet as she asked her questions.

"Oh you just leave it exposed for a long time and yeah I really like photography and uhh…" Velvet started to answer Nora's questions in order and grew embarrassed as she reached the last few. Her cheeks reddened and her eyes fell to the ground as her answers became a muddled mess and she finally fell silent all together.

"He's not even wearing _Storm Flower_ right now." Yang looked at the image and then at the blushing girl in front of her. "Velvet?" Velvet continued to look at the ground and fiddled with her camera absent mindedly until it shut off. She jumped a little when the screen powered down and then tucked it into her pouch, clearing her throat as she did.

"Oh," she chuckled nervously, "I uhh, I've gotta go. It was really nice to talk to you. Thanks for saying my photo was pretty Nora." Velvet made to leave but Yang put out a gentle arm to stop her.

"Velvet? What's up?" Yang asked gently but with the underlying firmness of an older sister.

"No really it's nothing." Velvet reached up and pulled nervously at one of her Faunus ears.

"You remember we said you could talk to us right?" Nora was cautious with her words for once which surprised Yang a little. Velvet raised her eyes to meet Nora's and nodded shyly. "Well you took a sneaky photo of Ren, so now you have to talk to us." Nora smiled at her. There was the brutally direct girl Yang loved so much.

"Oh well…" Velvet began but trailed off, "I uhh, it was really pretty with the lights and him meditating." She turned back and glanced at the boy still staring out over the city, "I thought it would be a nice photo, with Ren in it and all." Velvet turned back to the couple, the redness back on her cheeks in full force.

"So why are you so embarrassed then?" Yang crossed her arms and quirked a speculative eyebrow.

"I guess I should have asked maybe but I was really nervous to go talk to him. He's so quiet and he looked so peaceful." Velvet clasped her hands together and fiddled with her own fingers.

"Yeah, he really doesn't like to be interrupted while he's meditating. It's his quiet time." Nora looked thoughtfully at her long time friend over Velvet's shoulder, "He even gets upset with me if I bother him."

"Oh really," Velvet said in shock, "Oh I'm so sorry…" she began to apologize and Yang laughed.

"You didn't bug him though," Yang lowered her quirked eyebrow and sighed. Nora turned to her and smiled. "I think I figured it out."

"Yeah, she's not very good at hiding it is she?" Nora laughed and put a comforting hand on the Faunus girl's shoulder.

"Do you think Ren is cute?" Yang asked rather suddenly. Velvet pulled away in shock and began to deny it but stopped.

"Yea- umm yes." she finally stammered out and resumed looking directly at the ground.

"I guess that means you're over the whole Coco thing doesn't it?" Nora laughed good naturedly.

"Not exactly. Maybe," Velvet's eyes never lifted, "I was over it before we even broke up really." she finally admitted, "It just took me a long time to get the courage up to tell her how I felt." Yang and Nora both sighed.

"You gotta just go for it Velvet." Nora gave her a wide smile and a little squeeze on her shoulder.

"If you really think you're ready for someone new. I'm pretty sure Ren would be receptive." Yang said with as much encouragement as she could.

"Really? You think so." Velvet finally lifted her gaze to meet theirs.

"Oh yeah definitely. As long as you're really over Coco. He's not one for drama." Nora cheered considerably.

"I'm okay now. She's still just…" Velvet let concern and sadness creep into her voice, "She seems okay around me but she's still throwing herself at anyone willing to have her."

"Yeah she even offered herself up to me." Yang threw her head back and laughed out loud but slowly came to a stop as she realized neither Nora or Velvet had joined in her mirth. Yang opened her eyes and lowered her head again to judge Nora's reaction.

"That's it. I'm gonna break her legs. Where is she?" Nora began frantically looking around the courtyard, "If she thinks she can come anywhere near my little dragon then she has another thing coming." Nora turned back to Velvet, a very Yang like fury burning behind her eyes but calmed when Velvet giggled quietly.

"Little dragon?" Velvet asked between chuckles and the couple both fell into a deep blush.

"You need to go talk to Ren." Nora forcefully turned her around at the shoulders to face the young man. "Just wait there until he's done meditating, he'll like that." She pushed Velvet away, in a definite hurry to end the conversation and any further mention of her pet name for Yang. Velvet seemed to hesitate so Nora smacked her playfully on the butt which elicited a small yelp and sent her scuttling off towards the bench by Ren.

"Nora, I can't believe you." Yang grabbed the hand that had slapped Velvet's rear end. Nora turned to Yang, sudden worry in her eyes, "That is not how you slap a butt at all." Yang smiled and turned Nora just to the side so she had a proper angle at the redhead's hindquarters. She reached back with her free hand and hit Nora hard enough to make a loud slapping noise. Yang left her hand where it landed and squeezed just enough to make Nora tilt forward at the hips.

Nora spun into Yang and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's shoulders. Yang let her's slide around Nora's waist and rested both hands on the little redhead's butt. They leaned in for a quick kiss and then turned their heads simultaneously to inspect Velvet's progress. She had made it over to the bench and was sitting quite patiently with her hands folded in her lap, looking pointedly out over the city.

"Do you think it will work?" Nora asked quietly, wanting to ensure that Velvet's superior hearing didn't pick her up.

"I've got no idea, but they have to try right?" Yang pulled Nora in and the redhead rested her cheek against Yang's ample chest, humming contentedly all the while.

* * *

Yang opened the door to RWBY's dorm quickly and spun in with a broad smile on her face, she threw her arms out with a flourish and gazed across the room which she expected to be full of the other three fourths of her team but found only her partner, curled demurely atop her blankets with a thick novel in hand. Her bow was off and she didn't even lift her gaze to acknowledge Yang's entrance.

"Hey kitty cat. Having fun?" Yang asked brightly.

"I was yes. But it's not very quiet anymore." Blake raised her eyes from the book and regarded Yang with a playful smile.

"Where's Sun?" Yang looked around the room mockingly as if he might be hiding and then made her way to the window and checked the large tree outside as well. Blake was perfectly content to let her play out the joke and waited for her partner to pull her head back inside before responding.

"As hard as it may be for you to comprehend. Not all of us need to spend nearly every waking moment and all of our sleeping ones as well alongside our lovers." Blake gave Yang a wry smile, "Sun is out with his team celebrating their victory and his placement in the singles rounds and I _was_ enjoying a book I've wanted to get to for some time." Yang laughed again perched herself on the end of Blake's bed.

"What was that now? With our lovers?" Yang tilted her head knowingly and Blake slapped her book over her mouth.

"No that's not what I said."

"But it is what you said." Yang crawled alongside Blake and propped her head up on her arm against the pillows. "Are you and Sun... _physical_?" Yang waggled her eyebrows at her partner suggestively.

"It is none of your business." Blake closed her book gently in her lap and turned her chin up and away from Yang.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was talking to Weiss." Yang joked and poked playfully at Blake's side. Blake sighed and turned back to Yang.

"Okay, maybe Sun and I have moved our relationship to that point." Blake admitted and Yang grinned victoriously, "But it's not a first for either of us like it is with you and Nora." Blake pleaded with her, "We've both been with other people so it just sorta seemed natural to get there."

"Oh no, no I get it. Really, no judgement here. I just gotta know one thing." Yang tilted her head forward as if to whisper a secret and Blake leaned in accordingly, "What does he do with his tail?" Blake immediately shoved Yang away with a huff and the big blonde rolled off the edge of the bed laughing all the while. She landed with a heavy thud and her laughter continued to echo out of the hole between the bed and the wall. "You know it's not the same down here without Nora."

"Oh ewwww Yang seriously?" Blake moaned, "At least tell me you cleaned up after."

"You know it," Yang lifted herself back onto the bed, "I mean Ruby would never let me get away with having not. Weiss neither."

"How are they?" Blake asked in a suddenly very serious tone, "I mean, I heard what happened the other night. I wasn't exactly asleep." Yang sighed despondently and crossed her legs.

"I think they're okay. I mean they're hanging out right now. It's just gotta be hard for Ruby. She was so set on Weiss and then the way it all happened. Not the best first confession of love."

"Yeah, but I think they're gonna be okay. They've gotta be right? They're partners for four whole more years." Blake sighed again and moved her book to the night stand, knowing she wouldn't be getting back to it anytime soon.

"I hope so. Weiss can just be a little harsh sometimes." Yang laid out on the bed with a huff, "And Ruby is really fragile still."

"She's not as fragile as you think. She's grown up a lot this year Yang. She's definitely not the same girl she was at initiation." Blake rested a hand on Yang's knee and tried to reassure her with a small smile.

"I guess I've been so caught up with Nora that I'm not paying as much attention to her as I should be." Yang reached up and squeezed Blake's hand in thanks and then sat up to face her again.

"You don't have to though. She's got us now too and all of Team JNPR. Plus a bunch of other friends. You guys aren't alone anymore Yang." Blake leaned over and gave Yang a small, tight hug.

"It's really great," Yang said in a happier voice, "Having all of you. I never thought we would get friends like you. I definitely never thought I would end up dating someone like Nora." Yang laughed again.

"What do you mean?"

"Well first of all I never really realized I was a lesbian that's for sure." Yang shot Blake a humorous smirk, "And Nora is just so different from anyone I've ever really been friends with before. But, I love her absolutely."

"I'm so glad you two are happy together. It seems like most of us are finding someone we really click with." Blake leaned back against the headrest, certain now that Yang was no longer overly concerned about her little sister. "You and Nora have a lot to do with that."

"Not that much." Yang retorted.

"Really you do though. Think about it." Blake held up three fingers and counted them off, "You helped set Sun and I up with that bogus lunch double date, you nearly forced Pyrrha and Jaune together, I hear you're even trying to set Ren up with someone."

"What? Who told you that?" Yang was startled at how fast news spread around Beacon.

"Your sister is not an excellent secret keeper." Blake laughed lightly and Yang descended into chuckles as well.

"No, no she isn't." Once she had recovered Yang leveled a more serious look at Blake. "Are you and Sun coming tomorrow?" Blake looked at her confused, "To the big group dinner down in Vale? Didn't anyone tell you?"

"Oh that? Yeah we're coming. But you are absolutely not allowed to get all competitive Yang." Blake's tone turned very serious again, "I will not have our big fancy dinner with everyone ruined because you, Sun and Pyrrha are at each other's throats all night." Yang waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh come on, have a little trust there Blake." Yang lifted herself from the mattress and headed to her dresser. "You just tell monkey boy to keep his tail to himself and it will be a perfectly sociable dinner." Blake sighed and shook her head.

"I'm going to have to put you at opposite ends of the table aren't I?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." Yang pulled out a jacket and slid it over her arms and shouldes. "I gotta go, Nora is probably this close to barging in here and breaking the door again."

"You're on a pretty short leash aren't you?" Blake laughed and Yang huffed.

"Oh so you're allowed to make leash jokes then?"

"We talked about this Yang." Blake sighed.

"I know, I know," Yang's smile returned and she waved the dispute away, "I just love her a lot you know? I don't wanna risk something happening and us not having time to spend together or something." Yang eyes fell slightly.

"Go on then. Go get her." Blake waved a hand towards the door and grabbed her book, "I have a book to finish." Yang smiled and gave her partner a big thumbs up.

"Will do kitty cat." she turned to open the door but paused, "Should I knock before I come back in or is it not one of those books?" Yang ducked out the door with a giggle as a pillow came flying towards her.

* * *

 Yang and Nora emerged from the dorm building into the now lamp lit pathway towards the airbus landing pads and headed off towards the big cliff at a brisk pace.

"Do you think the beach will be very crowded?" Yang asked as she linked her arm through Nora's.

"No, I think it will be okay. We just gotta go to a rocky one not a sandy one." Nora pulled Yang close to her, relishing in the body heat her girlfriend always put off.

"Well as long as the Moon is up there and the waves keep crashing I know we'll enjoy ourselves." Yang smiled and gave Nora a quick peck on the cheek.

The couple continued on towards the airship landing pads in relative silence, simply enjoying walking with the girl they loved. They both slowed as they reached the massive courtyard and looked off towards a bench near the city side of the clearing.

"Are they still there?" Yang asked in a surprised whisper.

"Yeah," Nora whispered as well though not nearly as quietly as Yang, "Ren never came back to the dorm. I guess they're still talking."

"Wow, what do you think they're talking about?" Yang strained one ear hopelessly to try and hear.

"I don't know. But it must be something really interesting because Ren never talks this long unless the other person just won't shut up like me and that doesn't really sound like something Velvet would do."

"That's a good sign isn't it?" Yang turned to Nora.

"Oh yeah definitely," she leaned up and kissed Yang on the cheek, "We did good." Yang smiled goofily and was about to lean down for a deeper kiss when Nora shouted. "Oh the airbus is here. Hurry." Nora pulled her off towards the airbus which was definitely landing nearby. Yang spared one more glance towards the two sitting by the cliff side. Both Ren and Velvet were looking at them now. They both raised a hand gently to the air and smiled and waved as Nora drug Yang across the open courtyard. Yang managed to wave back and they returned to their conversation as she was pulled inside the still waiting ship.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I guess any doubts about Ren's pairing are pretty much settled now aren't they? Hopefully that's a pairing that makes people happy. It's one I've never read before and building it here has actually made me think that is rather viable. What do you think? One shot potential? Clubbin' is nearly finished and I'm looking for more one shot ideas to keep writing while I work on my next big project. So please let me know if any of the pairings here deserve more attention from me or if you have another one you think I should do in the meantime.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The conversation between Blake and Yang was definitely supposed to remind you of the one from the start of the story. I think they're bond as partners would be even stronger if they were not romantically involved (I'm not hating on BumbleBee, it's just a different option for them) and that would show in little quiet moments like that.
> 
> We're nearly finished here and I want to thank you all so far for the wild ride this has been. It's a heck of a first try at writing FanFiction and I hope you've had as much fun as I have. Please stay tuned for the finish.
> 
> Thanks for reading. The next chapter will be up on Saturday.
> 
> -Zach


	31. Long Walks on the Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Nora take a walk to relax a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The smooth breeze coming off the ocean hit Yang as the most refreshing thing she had felt in a long while. The combined stress of the end of the year at Beacon alongside all the preparations for the Vytal Festival and now being in the singles rounds had piled up on her lately. It had started to become a little much for usually carefree and complacent girl to handle which is why Nora suggested they take a walk down to the beach to help clear her head. Nora didn't even want Yang to take her bike tonight so they didn't have to worry about parking it or if it rained or anything like that. She had even remembered to mention that the airbuses ran much later than usual because of the Vytal Festival matches and all the ongoing festivities around the city. Yang and Nora could stay out basically as long as they liked and not worry about how they would get back to their dorm.

"You know I've seen you do that while swinging your hammer around right? Kinda loses the impressive factor if we're just walking." Yang looked up at Nora who was hopping from one foot to the other as she made her way along the thing handrail that separated the beach and the walkway. Yang had been worried about losing the sleep so close to her finals matches, there were some very impressive competitors for her to go up against, the boy they had seen win tonight with the robot eye looked incredible, or maybe she would have to fight Sun whose gunchucks she still hadn't figured out a way to track, and there was always the possibility that she would go up against the invincible girl. Yang was honestly extremely worried about the upcoming fight.

"Boop," Nora chimed and pulled Yang out of her thoughts with a poke on the nose, "Whatcha thinkin' about?" Nora cocked her head to one side and regarded Yang with warm, caring eyes the color of calm lake water in the middle of summer. Yang felt her worries fade under her gaze and reached up to grab Nora by the waist and ease her down to the ground in front of her.

"I love you so much Nora." Yang leaned forward and gave her a slow kiss.

"That is not what you were thinking about," Nora scolded playfully after they had separated, "You had your worried, concerned look on. Like when we talk about Ruby and Weiss, or when your bike is out in the rain." Yang couldn't help but giggle, Nora knew her too well.

"I was thinking about the fights." Yang said slowly and Nora's smile softened from playful to caring, "I don't wanna hurt Pyrrha ya know? She just looks so fragile." Yang laughed and Nora pushed at her shoulders playfully.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that's what you're worried about." Nora jumped over the railing in a single leap and rolled into the sand, "Come play with me Yang." Yang looked out over the ocean at the lights of the Amity Colosseum playing about in the crashing waves and then leapt to join her lover. She glanced down as she plummeted towards the sand and was startled to see Nora face down in the sand immediately beneath her. Yang spread her legs to the sides and landed with one foot either side of Nora's head. Nora rolled over and giggled.

"This is a view I could get used to." Nora grabbed Yang's ankles and pulled just hard enough to put her on her butt. Yang fell into a seated position, legs resting over Nora's.

"We stay like this, people might think we're doing something indecent down here." Yang joked just to hear the ringing laughter that never failed to brighten her day.

"Well what are they gonna do? Fight us? That would just make our night even better." Nora pulled her legs out from under Yang and fell forward onto all fours over Yang's torso. "Who knows, they might ask for your autograph afterwards. Getting beat up by a Vytal Festival champion doesn't happen everyday." Yang reached forward and gently placed a single finger against Nora's lips to stop her advance and silence her.

"I'm not champ yet. Can't go letting me get a big head." Yang laughed and Nora opened her mouth just wide enough to nibble at Yang's finger.

"You're a champ to me." Nora slid her mouth back and placed a small, light kiss right at the tip of Yang's index finger.

"So you think you could handle dating me? Even if I lose?" Yang leaned back on her arms, feeling the soft sand cling to her newly moistened finger.

"I don't think I could handle not being with you." Nora lowered herself down and kissed Yang gently on the lips, holding their lips together but not pressing forward.

Yang held herself up with her core and swung both arms out to knock Nora's hands out from under her. The redhead fell on top of Yang, her face going directly into Yang's cleavage. Yang laughed when Nora made no attempt to free herself.

"You know, I would be upset. But, I just can't for some reason." Nora burrowed her head a little deeper into Yang's ample bosom and hummed happily. Yang laughed again and hugged Nora closer to her, falling backwards into the sand and bringing her lover down with her. She was content to lie there in the sand, staring up at the sky, void of all stars thanks to the intense light put out by the colosseum and clutching Nora to her chest like a child with stuffed ursa.

"It's really beautiful isn't it?" Yang asked in a softer voice.

"What is?" Nora's voice was still muffled by the breasts she had yet to extract herself from.

"The stadium. I mean. It's just crazy. That's the work of an entire generation floating up there. It just glows and sparkles and hangs out like it doesn't care at all." Yang spoke slowly, her voice full of wonderment. Nora rolled off to her side and propped her head up on her elbow.

"You know it's a stadium right? I don't think it can care Yang" Nora laughed playfully and rested her free hand on Yang's stomach.

"Yeah, I know, but I mean. It just seems so separate from everything else. Like it could just fly away and leave all of this behind." Yang moved her arms out to her sides and put one on the holding Nora up.

"Oh okay…" Nora looked down at Yang's stomach and started drawing random little shapes on her belly, "Yang, you're not talking about the stadium anymore are you?" Yang sighed quietly and closed her eyes.

"I don't know Nora."

"What's up?" Nora leaned up and slid her hand from Yang's stomach to her cheek, "Are you worried about something?"

"Worried? Not really. Okay maybe. I feel like it's not that intense though. Just nervous I guess." Yang opened her eyes just to see those cool azure orbs staring back at her, the ones that always calmed her. "When Ruby decided to become a huntress like me, it was pretty much a given. I mean both of our Moms and our Dad were hunters, plus uncle Qrow and basically everyone we knew because all of their friends were hunters too. I knew it was dangerous, I mean look what happened to Summer. But I guess I figured Ruby would always be safe. Then Qrow trained her and I knew she would be because she got so good so fast. I never really worried about her getting hurt. I never worried about myself getting hurt either because I mean, I'm me right?" A goofy grin broke through her stoic composure for just a moment before fading back into the background. "I never worried about anything. I'm just here because I love a good fight and it gives me an excuse to work out all the time and I would be way too bored doing anything else."

"What about finding your Mom?" Nora asked gently.

"Yeah, I wanna find her too but I don't need to be a huntress to do that. I mean, I could search like a normal person, put out things over the CCT, ask around, that kind of thing." Yang leaned up and kissed Nora on the forehead, "But the biggest difference now is I have something to worry about." Nora cocked her head to the side for a moment and then the spark of realization hit her.

"Me? You're worried about me?" Nora laughed and put her hand on Yang's shoulder, "You don't have to be worried about me Yang. You've seen me fight and besides, I've always got you there to back me up." Nora smiled and leaned down to give Yang a kiss but Yang pulled away after just a moment of contact.

"But I do worry Nora. I'm not always there with you. I know you have Pyrrha and Ren and even Jaune on missions but things happen, Grimm are dangerous." Yang turned her head away, "I don't know what I'd do if they came back without you. Or what if I didn't come back?" Nora grabbed Yang's cheek and turned her back to stare at her again.

"Nothing is gonna happen, you're my little dragon right?" Nora asked sternly.

"Yeah, but Nora-"

"And I'm you're beautiful firecracker?"

"Nora, that's not-"

"So we'll be fine." Nora kissed Yang again and they both maintained the contact, "Besides, we're still just in training. Nothing bad is ever gonna happen while we're here and once we leave we can go on every single mission together. Right?" Yang's grimace faltered and a small smile pushed her lips upwards.

"Right." Yang darted forward and gave Nora another quick kiss before jumping to her feet, "Wanna keep walking?" she extended her hand down towards her lover, still lying in the sand.

"I dunno, my legs are kinda tired. I spent all day jumping up and down cheering for this really cute blonde girl fighting in the tournament?" Nora gave Yang a coy smile.

"Oh well in that case," Yang swept down and scooped Nora up out of the sand. The little redhead giggled furiously as Yang swung her up and over her head and put her on her shoulders, one leg on either side of her neck. "I will just have to carry you." Yang bucked her shoulders slightly to get Nora into a better position and headed off down the sand.

"Weeeeee!" Nora squealed in joy from atop her girlfriend's strong shoulders, "Oh I haven't done this in…. Well ever!" Nora was still yelling.

"Really? You've never ridden on someone's shoulders?" Yang tried to crane her head to look up at Nora but found that it proved quite impossible.

"Well yeah I mean, this isn't exactly something Ren would do for me and I was always the stronger one we were little. Well I still am but at least now he could lift me." Nora laughed and let her hands fall down to Yang's cheeks and linked her fingers beneath the blonde's chin.

"Well then I am so incredibly glad to take your shoulder riding virginity." Yang laughed and reached up to poke Nora in the belly, eliciting another giggle of delight.

"Are you excited to go to dinner with everyone tomorrow?" Nora voice was quieter and Yang figured she was looking up at the sky now.

"Oh yeah, it's gonna be great. I hope Sun gets to stay after the festival is over too. I would hate for the dinner to be the last time he and Blake see each other." Yang really did worry about the fact that her usually reclusive teammate had put herself in a relationship with a preset expiration date.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Sun doesn't seem like the type to let something silly like a whole continent of separation get between him and his girl." Nora arched down quickly over Yang's head so her upside down face appeared suddenly in Yang's vision. "Oh my Oum Yang hide us!"

"What?" Yang asked in shock but Nora didn't hesitate. She pulled hard and threw her body back towards the walkway, keeping her legs firmly around Yang's shoulders.

"Hurry, we gotta hide." Nora hit the sand and disentangled from Yang's shoulders. She scrambled quickly behind a large rock near the walkway and beckoned for Yang to hurry over. Yang didn't ask any more questions instead decided it would just be easier to follow suit and quickly scrambled after her. Once her back was firmly against the same rock as her girlfriend she spoke in a hushed voice.

"What are we hiding from?"

"Fate I think. Destiny… do you believe in destiny?" Nora cocked her head to the side.

"What are you talking about?" Yang was completely lost now. Nora held a single finger over her lips to shush Yang.

"Just look, up on the walkway." Nora whispered and jerked her thumb over her shoulder towards the raised pathway that ran alongside the sand. Yang obeyed silently and slowly lifted her eyes up over the edge of the rock. She was incredibly surprised to see Ruby and Weiss standing together, staring right at one another.

"Oh my Oum. I thought they were going out to eat with Jaune and Pyrrha?" Yang whispered back as she hit the ground next to Nora again.

"I know right, they were supposed to be. Maybe they finished and came out here?" Nora voice was growing louder as she got excited about what that possibility might imply.

"Shhh, we gotta see if we can hear them." Both girls fell silent and strained their ears. They could make out the noise of conversation but the low rumble of the waves blurred any actual discernable words beyond recognition.

"I can't hear them Yang." Nora whimpered quietly.

"Okay, uhhhh… I'm gonna go sneak to right under the path and see if I can hear them. Stay here, I don't want them to see us." Yang looked Nora in the eye to ensure she understood what she meant. The redhead nodded quickly and Yang scampered off on all fours. She stuck close to the rocks, trying to stay in the shadows as much as she could. That's what Blake did when she was being sneaky, right? She rolled to a stop and pressed her back against the base of the path and tried to restrain her excited breathing and listen in.

"Weiss, you know I'm still gonna be the best partner and leader I can be right? What I said the other day. It doesn't change anything about us as a team." Ruby's voice was quiet. Yang figured Weiss had brought up the subject and made Ruby uncomfortable. Sounded like something the Ice Queen would do.

"That's not what I was going to-" Weiss was obviously irritated, Yang could vividly picture the nose pinching fury the heiress must be trying to restrain. "Would you not interrupt me you dolt?"

"Sorry, sorry. I just. I wanted to say that before you started. Sorry" Ruby apologized hurriedly. Trying to back pedal as quickly as possible.

"Okay," Weiss took an audibly deep breath, "Ruby. You know I grew up extremely sheltered right?" Weiss was silent for a moment before continuing. Ruby must have nodded in agreement or some such non-verbal affirmation. "Well, I actually never even dated anyone at all. I can't say I ever even had a crush of any kind. I went to an all girl's business school in Atlas, attended company meetings with Father and Winter and saw my private combat tutor as often as I was allowed. I was kept so busy I didn't really have time for anything like that. So, I have absolutely no idea how you feel about any of this."

"But Weiss-"

"Ah pup-up." Again Yang could imagine the heiress waving her finger impatiently in the air. "Let me finish." The irritation was significantly less in Weiss's voice now. "I also never had many friends. In Atlas my father's company has even more esteem and power than it does here. So, no one ever really talked to me at school. Even though they were all the rich and elite of Atlas, I was still seen as a separate entity. So when I came here. That's why I was so harsh when we met. All I never knew was to push people away. I had come to prefer isolation because I was used to it."

"Weiss I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Ruby's voice was faltering, of course she was emotional. Just because Weiss hadn't reciprocated her feelings didn't mean hers had vanished and that was a rather heart jerking story.

"So, when we started to become friends I didn't know what to do. I was awkward and clumsy in casual conversation. I didn't understand how to be funny like Yang, witty and biting like Blake or even carefree like you. I was jealous of how comfortable you all were with each other. But, you were so accepting of me. You dealt with the insults and the name calling and took it all in stride. You teased back even. No one had ever done that before. But, I still didn't know what to do with it. Then we started hanging out all the time and I got to the point where I was really, actually comfortable with you."

Yang couldn't believe this spilling of Weiss's guts she was hearing. She actually started to feel a little guilty for eavesdropping but honestly couldn't risk sneaking away then. She had gotten lucky enough to make her stealthy approach, she doubted she could make an equally stealthy exit.

"It was so nice Ruby. This time together, all the things we've done. It's the first time in my life I haven't felt like I was totally alone. So, when you explained how you felt. I got so scared. I didn't know what any of that meant. I was just getting a handle on us being friends and I had never even thought of a girl that way before. I mean, I'm supposed to like boys right? That's the way it goes." Weiss's voice grew softer and softer as she went.

"Weiss that's not true. You can like anyone you want. It doesn't matter." Ruby was frantic now, maybe she had started to see where Weiss might be headed with all this. Good for her, ruby had never been the most insightful girl but Yang hoped that this time she would have a glimpse of Weiss's meaning.

"I told you Ruby. I grew up really, really sheltered. You remember how I reacted to Blake, and the way I felt about Faunus before I got to know Blake and Velvet and even Sun. I still think he's a cretin but it has nothing to do with him being a Faunus now. Now I know him and I can say he's an undesirable completely based on his personality." Weiss huffed out another sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm getting way off track. What I'm trying to say is that my father raised me my whole life with visions of a grand wedding and raising lots of children and carrying on the family name with some other high born, rich kid who was doing exactly the same for his family. That's all I ever knew."

"Aren't you trying to get away from all of that though? From your Father and the company and everything?" Ruby was pleading with her.

"I am Ruby, really. But…." Weiss trailed off and there were a few moments of silence, "It's just so hard to go against everything I've known my whole life."

"Oh, okay." Ruby had broken. Yang could tell, she had reached her limit and figured there was no chance now. That this was just some sort of protracted apology from the ever polite and proper Schnee girl.

"No Ruby," Weiss shouted suddenly, and Yang could hear a sharp intake of breath though from which girl she wasn't sure, "That's not what I mean. I mean I don't know what I'm doing but I wanna try. I do want to get away from all the bigotry and the hate and the stereotypes my father put in my head. I really, really do."

"Weiss, I don't want you to be with me just as some way of getting back at your Dad. I don't want anything we have to be a symbol of anything other than how we feel about each other." Ruby had a confidence back to her voice, she had steeled herself up and Yang couldn't take to hear anymore. She decided she would have to risk sneaking away. Slowly she began creeping out across the sand, hugging close to the rocks again.

"No Ruby. It's not!" Weiss shouted and Yang turned. Weiss had rushed forward and had both of ruby's hands in hers. She was clutching them up to her chest and between the gentle light of the stadium and the shattered moon Yang could see tears shimmering in both of the girl's eyes. "I don't know how to, I don't know if I can explain it. But I want to Ruby."

"You don't have to-" Ruby started but Weiss flung an impertinent finger against her lips to silence the little brunette. Yang slunk against the rock, she had to stay now to see what happened. Weiss obviously had something in mind and Yang's curiosity would not let her miss it.

Weiss kept one hand against Ruby's lips and held the other flat out to her side, palm up towards the sky and closed her eyes in concentration. Ruby looked back and forth between her hand and her face, trying to figure out what she was doing but stayed silent as she had been instructed by a still present finger. Weiss furrowed her brow in concentration and a tiny shimmer appeared above her hand. It grew slowly, expanding and widening into a small circle parallel to Weiss's hand and Ruby's eyes grew wider as well. The little light kept pushing outwards until Yang could make out the Schnee logo in the center as the little circle got to what must have been around two or three inches wide.

Weiss's brows unfurrowed slightly, but definitely not completely and she arched her fingers up towards the circle. A single, rigid white line extended down from the circle towards Weiss's outstretched fingers and she grasped it tightly. Slowly the heiress pulled down and more and more of the white line descended from the floating insignia. Yang couldn't tell what it was other than a shimmering string of light until a flower head emerged from the glyph. Weiss sighed and opened her eyes, her shoulder slumping down from the apparent effort of what she had just done. She held a white rose out to Ruby, one seemingly made entirely of light.

"Weiss…" Ruby's voice was weak and there were tears running down her face. She reached out and gingerly took the rose from Weiss.

"It won't last very long. It's basically made of my aura and I'm really, really not good at that yet. But, I wanted to show you how I feel." Weiss had tears on her cheeks now as well and her voice was wavering, "I don't know exactly what it means, but I do know that I care about you more than anyone else in my life and I can't stand to see you the way you've been the past few days. I want to try and make you happy Ruby. I don't know if I can, but I want to try."

Ruby fell forward onto Weiss and wrapped her tiny arms around the taller girl's shoulders. Weiss stood in shock for a moment and then awkwardly returned the hug. Yang could feel tears dripping down her cheeks as well now and she reached up to wipe them away with her sleeve. She looked back up and Weiss and Ruby were still locked firmly around each other but the rose was slowly fading, shimmering brightly but flaking away into little specks of light that drifted aimlessly around the pair. Yang wiped at her eyes again and made her way quietly back to where Nora was still waiting.

"What was that? I couldn't hear but I saw that. What did she even just do? Is Weiss a witch? Yang what happened?" Nora launched question after question at her as soon as she was back on their side of the rock.

"I'll tell you, but come on. We should leave them alone right now." Yang grabbed Nora's hand gently and pulled away along the sand, back the way they'd come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - This was not in any way a result of reader pressure, please understand that. I am always in it to see everyone happy, really I am. At least in this silly little "Clubbin' "crack ship disaster. Also, I hope you liked that scene. I had to stop and start as I wrote it, which is weird for me, because I wanted to make sure it came out just right. So please, tell me what you thought of that.
> 
> On another, possibly more melancholy note, I guess it depends on how you feel about this story, this is the penultimate chapter. Meaning tomorrow's chapter, number 32, will be the final chapter of "Clubbin' ". 32 feels like a good number, and I refuse to deal with the end of the Vytal Festival in this fic so there it is. tomorrow's chapter will be a sort of reunion and reflection at their big friendly dinner and then I will mark it complete. Thank you so much for reading everyone. I meant this to be a toe dipping, experiment and almost two months later I'm sad to see it go. Thank you all for the ride.
> 
> -Zach


	32. All Together Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

"Hi, we have a reservation for ten. The name is Xiaolong." Yang said happily to the host at the front of the restaurant. He nodded politely and looked behind her.

"There seem to be only two of you here." he looked around the rest of the waiting room, there were others seated but he apparently recognized them as separate customers. "I can seat you once your entire party is here. We will hold the table though." He nodded again with a smile and Yang and Nora stepped off to the side. Yang was wearing a simple white dress that came down to just above her knees and had a very modest neckline, really similar to the dress she had worn to the dance a little while back. Nora had taken the opportunity to also wear a dress, since they rarely didn't take the bike. Her's was of course in her usual pink with a ring of little white hearts around the hem down at her ankles and a plunging neckline that cut between her petite breasts and stopped just below her belly button. Definitely far more revealing than Yang's, but unless someone was offended by her firm core, completely modest as the fabric revealed almost nothing of her breasts.

"Aww man," Nora whined once they were seated in the waiting area, "I really wanted to eat a bunch of the free bread while we waited."

"I know right? That way we could have filled up a little before everyone else got here." Yang laughed, she was so glad the she and Nora thought the same when it came to food.

"So what do you think is holding everyone up?" Nora pulled her legs up onto the chair and turned sideways to face Yang.

Well let's see," Yang leaned back in her chair, "Velvet is probably fussing over her appearance and Ren is just to quiet to say anything. Pyrrha is probably making Jaune wait for Ren so they can come down together. Sun is always late and Weiss is definitely trying to convince Ruby not to wear her cloak to dinner."

"That sounds about right. But I think Jaune and Pyrrha might get here first. Pyrrha not wanting to be late will probably win out over being nice to Ren. Plus, he'll see that she's uncomfortable with waiting and tell them to go on ahead." Nora giggled.

"Wow Nora. You know us pretty well." Jaune called out from just a few steps away. "That's exactly what happened." He was wearing an open blazer jacket and some slacks, though Yang did notice that he still had his ratty sneakers on underneath.

"Oh yes," Pyrrha laughed brightly, "I really didn't want to leave Ren but he insisted that we continue on without the two of them." Pyrrha was wearing a flowing crimson dress, a beautiful bronze necklace with her shield and spear crest and her usual metallic head piece. She was radiant as always, especially since she was almost six and a half feet tall in her heels.

"Wait, Velvet really was fussing about how she looked?" Yang asked in surprise. That had honestly been a bold guess. She knew that Coco was very fashion conscious but the quieter girl, Velvet, had never seemed like the type to worry overly much about her appearance.

"Oh yes, she is very concerned about making a good first impression with Ren's sister." Pyrrha gave Nora a chiding look, "She's heard you're very protective of him." Nora and Yang both laughed.

"She shouldn't worry so much. We set them up together after all." Nora turned to sit in her chair normally and reached a hand across to hold Yang's.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. We just gotta get her out of her shell a little. Teach her to not be so shy around us."

"You two be nice to her." Jaune warned, "She is not ready for the Yang, Nora combo attack."

"We'll be gentle. I promise." Nora laughed and gave Yang's hand a squeeze, "Won't we Yang?"

"Oh yeah definitely. Gotta be good to Ren's new girl." Yang leaned back and laughed happily, "Come on guys sit down already. You're making me feel weird." Yang motioned at a pair of empty seat near herself and Nora.

"Oh, sorry." Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's hand and pulled him over to a long, fake leather bench.

"So how have you two been?" Yang asked, trying to make small talk until more people arrived.

"Good, a little tired though." Jaune sat next to Pyrrha and kept a firm hold on her hand. "She's been keeping me up real late."

"Oh yeah?" Nora quirked an eyebrow at them, " just because I'm gone doesn't mean you two can go crazy. Ren still sleeps in there too." Pyrrha broke out into a fierce blush and Jaune frantically waved his free hand in front of him defensively.

"No, no that's not what I meant." He had to catch himself to not yell in the small waiting area, "I mean with practice and just talking and stuff."

"Uhh huh, sure. Talking and stuff." Yang scooted forward in her seat a little to be closer to the other couple. "Speaking of training though, Pyrrha how ready are you for the singles rounds?"

"Oh I am as prepared as ever Yang." Pyrrha smiled confidently, "I can only hope we are able to face each other before you are knocked out by someone else." Yang laughed.

"Oh don't worry. You make it all the way and we'll fight for sure. I plan on takin' the whole thing." Yang turned to smile confidently at Nora but was met with a derisive leer. "What?"

"I told you. This is a friendly dinner. You are not supposed to talk about the tournament." Nora hit Yang on the shoulder playfully.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Sun called out from the doorway. He was holding the door open and Blake stepped through, wearing a skin tight black dress that fell modestly past her heels to drag just slightly behind her, a thin split running up one side to reveal her milky white legs beneath. Her light blush contrasted nicely and made her face and amber eyes stand out against the otherwise all black ensemble, topped nicely by her familiar bow. Sun actually had his shirt buttoned up and his sleeves rolled down to his wrists, but it appeared that was all Blake could get him to do. He had skipped on the tie and still had his large martial arts ready shoes and blue jeans on.

"Oh shush you. No shop talk from you either." Blake hit Sun playfully on the arm with her small clutch. He grabbed his arm in mock pain and smiled.

"Right, right. You're in charge" he said with a grin and extended his arm to her. Blake linked her elbow through his with a small grin and stepped forward, towards the other four.

"Hey guys." Jaune waved the over to the big bench. "We still got room over here." Sun guided Blake over and allowed her to sit first. Blake took the outside of the bench and Sun plopped himself between her and Jaune. She crossed her legs at the ankle and leaned back against the over stuffed leather with a content little hum. Sun stayed leaning forward but placed a hand on the bench behind him for Blake to hold.

"What's up Jauney? How you been?" Sun asked with a smile.

"Oh I'm good." Jaune smiled back, "Congrats on all the wins so far. You've been tearing it up out there."

"Psssh, that's nothing. I just hope I don't have to go up against your girlfriend." Sun smiled over at Pyrrha, "She'll tear me up for sure." Sun looked back and shrugged his shoulders at Blake. "What? He brought it up." Blake just shook her head, never losing her little smile.

"So, do you know if you're gonna stay on afterwards Sun? Can you even do that?" Nora asked, trying to change the subject away from the tournament.

"Yeah I think I got it figured out." Sun smiled, "I mean I came here a few weeks early anyways. As long as I'm training and such our headmaster should be cool with me hanging around."

"Oh that's great." Yang was so happy to hear he would be able to stay. So happy for Blake. "How long do you think?"

"I don't know." Sun shook his head carelessly, "When I asked if I could the school said it would probably be okay. Something about how unstable things are right now and all that. I don't know, I'm just glad it means I get to stick around here." Sun smiled around at them all. "You guys are a pretty cool group."

"Thank you Sun," Pyrrha smiled brightly, "You're team will be staying as well?"

"Definitely, they won't go anywhere without me. Probably get lost on the way home and wind up back here anyways." They all laughed at that, especially Yang and Nora who had constantly talked about how prominent Sun was as a leader on his team.

"Oh Yang, I wanted to ask before they got here." Jaune turned towards the other blonde suddenly, "What's the deal with Weiss and Ruby? Nora told me what happened after your fight with FNKI, but are they okay now?"

"Yes, I would hate for them to be upset with each other. They were such good friends." Pyrrha's voice was full of that loving compassion she seemed to show them all equally.

"Yeah, they're better. They're actually great." Yang smiled to herself, she was very glad things seemed to be working out for Rubes. "They should be here soon. They're actually coming together tonight."

"Like together-together." Nora said excitedly.

"But I thought Weiss didn't see Ruby that way?" Blake spoke up from her corner calmly.

"They're gonna try and make it work. Weiss wants to see if she can." Yang said with a nod, "I guess we'll just see how it goes."

"Wow, I hope that works out. Might be kinda rough." Jaune didn't sound sure.

"Ahh nah, I wouldn't worry. Ruby's great, she'll make it worth it for Weiss." Sun laughed, "I mean that or she'll drive Weiss so insane she'll have no choice but to stick with Ruby."

"Ahhhhh" there was a scream from the entryway and everyone's heads jerked to see what it was.

"Ruby, honestly, you still haven't gotten the hang of this?" Weiss leaned down to help her up from the floor. Weiss dress was pure snow white at the shoulder and slowly faded to a sky blue at the base just above her ankles.

"No! I have not gotten a hang of these stupid lady stilts." Ruby moaned as Weiss helped her up, "Thanks Weiss." Ruby blushed hard and looked down at their still clasped hands. Weiss blushed as well and quickly pulled hers back, causing Ruby to stumble once more. She was wearing a frilly black dress, with a bright red belt, cinched tight around her incredibly thin waist. She had even added a small rose pendant to her hair in the shape of her emblem and gone without the cloak for the evening. Yang was struck by how quickly she was growing up, she looked like she really belonged with their group, even though she was still a full two years behind them all.

"Hey you two. Doin' okay?" Nora called out.

"Oh," Ruby jumped, "You're all here already. And you're staring at us. And you saw me fall. That's a great way to start the night. You know, I think I'll just go home. Yeah, that's what I'll do. All the way back to Patch. See you later." Ruby waved and went to leave but Weiss caught her by the hand.

"Oh no you don't," Weiss pulled her back to her side, "No, no, not after the two hours it took to pick out our clothes and get you to leave your cloak at home. No, no no. We are eating with everyone." Ruby blushed again at the contact but Weiss didn't retract her hand this time, instead pulling Ruby over to the other set of chairs across from Jaune and Sun, next to Yang.

"You do look very nice in heels Ruby." Pyrrha said politely as the couple sat themselves with everyone else.

"Oh thanks Pyrrha." Ruby's eyes dropped to the floor in embarrassment.

"I've been trying to tell her it's not that hard." Weiss stated, "I mean I even fight in them."

"Yes Ruby, really. I'm sure that with just a bit of practice you could come to really enjoy wearing them over flats." Pyrrha tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"Plus if Weiss wears heels and you don't then she'll be too tall for you to kiss her." Nora threw from her spot at the opposite side of the group. Weiss's face went bright red and Ruby instinctively reached for her hood which wasn't there to protect her.

"Play nice Nora." Yang gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"She's got a point though," Sun laughed as well, "I'm sure Weiss is the type that wants to be swept off her feet. Right?" Weiss didn't respond at first.

"Well, I do like the idea of being romanced." she pondered out loud but then shook her head rather violently to dispel the thoughts. "This is none of your business though. You're all so nosy."

"We're just very excited for you two." Pyrrha said, trying to calm the Ice Queen's temper if even a little.

"Yeah, you two both really deserve some happiness." Jaune gave them both a warm smile.

"Well thank you, Pyrrha, Jaune." Weiss straightened a little and held her chin higher, "I'm glad I can at least count on you two to be mature about this."

"Thanks guys." Ruby raised her head a little as well, "Everyone I mean. I'm so happy we all hang out and everything." Ruby looked around at her group of friends. "You know, when I started here. Yang bailed on me, Weiss yelled at me and Blake barely wanted to talk to me. But now I've got all of you. It's just awesome." Ruby's face lifted into a wide smile. "Hey wait, where's Ren?"

"Renny is getting his new girlfriend over here, it looks like it's taking them some time though." Nora giggled. "I wonder what they could be up to?"

"Well it's Ren and Velvet, so probably quietly sitting next to each other." Jaune laughed out loud and even got a small chuckle from Pyrrha.

"No way? Ren, the quiet ninja guy, is dating Velvet?" Sun asked incredulously.

"Well maybe they haven't put that title on it yet." Yang gave Nora a hard look. She was so easily excited sometimes and didn't get that others didn't quite rush in as fast as she did.

"That's awesome though. Good for him. An older girl, and a cutey Faunus too." Sun turned to Blake, "Not quite a sexy cat Faunus though." Blake blushed just slightly but lifted Sun's hand to her lips and kissed it all the same.

"How did no one tell me this?" Ruby finally pulled out of her shock.

"You were kinda busy last night Rubes." Yang grinned knowingly at her. Ruby still didn't know that Yang and Nora had seen Weiss's confession and for now it was probably best to keep it that way.

"Oh," Ruby chuckled nervously and a small blush returned, "Yeah we kinda were." Nora threw her hands across her mouth and Yang quirked an eyebrow at her. She just shook her head now and kept her hands right where they were. Yang smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Whatever, you gotta do." Yang was glad Nora was really trying to cut Weiss and Ruby a break from all the teasing, even if she did have to physically restrain herself to do so.

"Shouldn't they be here by now though?" Blake asked, "Ren doesn't like to be late any more than Pyrrha does."

"Ahh yes, well, he was rather tied up as Velvet was quite concerned with her appearance this evening." Pyrrha leaned back so she could make eye contact with Blake behind Sun.

"Well that's silly. She's sooo cute. I'm sure she'll look great." Ruby squeaked, still trying to recover from her flustered state.

"Excuse me, is your party here?" the host asked of Yang.

"Almost, we've got just two left." Yang went to stand but he held out a hand.

"Of course, we will prepare your table so it's ready when they arrive." he left with a slight bow.

"Oh cool, thanks," Yang called after him and then turned to the rest of the group, "I'm never gonna get used to the service at these fancy places."

"Isn't it like that everywhere?" Weiss asked innocently.

"Ohhh, no Weissy." Nora laughed as she spoke, "You have so much to learn." Weiss just hmmphhed indignantly.

"Well it should be, that's the sort of service we deserve isn't it?"

"Not really. I mean, you're the only rich one here." Yang said simply. Weiss unclenched her prideful eyes and glanced around at her friends.

"Oh, I guess I'm just used to it being that way." her voice dropped the high and mighty tone slightly, "Well, you'll learn to enjoy it really. It's quite nice."

"Hello everyone," Ren called over from the door, "Are we still waiting on our table?" He was wearing his usual green and black robes, but cut in a style meant for formal dining such as tonight, not the combat variant he usually wore. This set had more richly embroidered sleeves and hems, along with a small, delicate stitching of his purple lotus near the collar.

"Nah Ren, it's all ready for us. We're just waiting for you." Jaune waved him over but Ren turned back into the doorway.

"Come now Velvet, they're waiting on us." Ren reemerged from the entryway, gently holding Velvet's fingers as he guided her in. She was wearing a smooth, form fitting dress that pulled in just below the shoulders, revealing her bare arms up to the neck and ended in a small collar around her throat. It carried down to her upper thigh and she stood in a pair of modest heels that brought her to just less than Ren's height, although her ears poked far above his head.

"Sorry we're late. It's my fault." Velvet waved nervously as she came into view, "I was really having trouble getting ready and usually Coco helps but…." she trailed off as she accidently entered awkward waters, "She didn't really want to tonight."

"That's okay Velvet, we're glad you guys made it." Yang stood cheerfully and pulled Nora up to join her.

"You look great Velv, really, really pretty." Nora smiled over at her, "Yang and I might have to steal you away from him." Nora laughed and Ren chuckled just slightly. Yang was really impressed how incredibly the two of them were like siblings all the time.

Just then the host returned carrying a large stack of menus.

"And this would be everyone then?" He looked to Yang again.

"Oh yeah, this is it." Yang looked around at her rather large group of gathered friends, "We're all together now."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I don't really know what to do with myself not that it's over. That was my first Fan Fiction ever and it kind of feels weird to be done with it. I mean, it was never supposed to be more than the first chapter but you all kept me going until the end. I'm really, really happy with the way everything turned out in it. I got to include happy and sad moments, comedy and drama. Lots of fluff but serious romance. It got a little scattered in places but it was the world through Yang and Nora's eyes so it should be a little scattered shouldn't it? Please, even if you're reading this way after it's publication. Please message me and let me know what you thought of it. It was my first completed work and I would love feedback.
> 
> Thank you all so very, very much for sticking with me through this wild ride. I definitely would not have kept going if not for all of you. Every review and PM to discuss it, the critiques and spell checks, the praise and admiration. All of it kept me chugging along when I thought I could skip a day or let it peeter out. i always though of how sad I was when a story didn't get finished and how much I didn't want to do that to all of you. So thank you, for giving me a reason to keep writing this crazy little crack-ship adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> I have lots more ideas to write and I'll take what I learned here to those thoughts and hopefully they'll be better because of it. Please stay tuned, there's lots more to come from me yet.
> 
> -Zach


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